Friends and Relations
by Eh Bien
Summary: Seven years after Breaking Dawn. New joys & challenges arise for Bella and the Cullens. More detailed summary before Chapter 1. Canon.
1. Chance Meeting

**Six years after Renesmee's birth, life is good for Bella, attending college for the second time in the Cullens' latest location, but new challenges arise. Nessie is almost adult physically and mentally, but what about in other ways? The Cullens meet some interesting and mysterious new people. Jacob is struggling with his position in the Cullen family. The Volturi continue to be a potential threat. Bella has some old, unfinished business she needs to deal with. And there's also shopping, 'alone time,' and baseball.  
>Rated an overcautious T, mostly for discussions of violence.<strong>

**This story is a continuation of my previous post-BD stories, Home and The Gift; however, any of them can be read alone without confusion.**

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><p>It was January, and the snow was just starting to stick to the ground. It reminded me of the events of another winter, back in Washington, just as the snow was beginning to stick, and we, along with every friend and ally we could find, faced what we could only assume was certain death, if not something worse.<p>

Actually, here in our newest location, the snow had stuck to the ground, then melted off partially and formed slush, only to be replaced by a fresh snowfall, five times by the first week of January, and locals had begun to curse when they looked up at the sky on a cloudy morning. Forks had much milder winters than central Maine. The reminder still applied, though. I impulsively took a scarf from the hall closet and wrapped it around my daughter's neck as we started out the front door to my car. The scarf was unnecessary – Renesmee, with impermeable skin and a natural body temperature of 105 Fahrenheit, was almost as oblivious to the cold as I was – but it made me feel I was protecting her somehow.

She peered down at the scarf, raising an eyebrow, which made her look even more like her father. "Is this for keeping up appearances? I'm not cold."

I shrugged. "Just a motherly impulse. Snow on the ground, instinctively bundle up the kid. Besides," I added, assuming this would make more of an impression, "it looks good with that coat."

She pursed her lips thoughtfully, looking again at the pale lilac scarf against her green jacket, and started to climb into the passenger seat without a word. Despite the best efforts of Aunt Alice, Nessie had never developed a real obsession with clothes, but she did like interesting colour combinations. Apart from colour, her clothes were like those of any schoolgirl whose parents kept her on a tight leash. I'd firmly put my foot down on all efforts by Alice to prematurely glamourize my daughter. Nessie dressed, if anything, a little young for her appearance, which suited me for now, and certainly suited her father. Her school's rather strict dress code helped maintain the status quo.

"Bella?" I heard Jacob's voice behind me as he emerged from the cottage adjoining the Cullen household. "I'm just on my way out. I can drop Nessie at school if you want."

I looked over at Nessie, who nodded and closed the car door. "Sure. Thanks, Jake." I gave my daughter a kiss goodbye. "Have a good day."

"You too, Momma." She ran gracefully to the far end of the outbuilding where our cars were stored. I heard her greet Jake, giving him a quick hug before tossing her backpack in the back seat and jumping into his little red Honda. Nessie was perfectly capable of driving herself, and _did_ drive under the right circumstances, but while passing for a high school sophomore, she had to play the role of a fifteen year old and depend on others for transportation for one more year. In reality, she was six years old chronologically, in her late teens physically. Her exact mental age was debatable at this point, but she was certainly old enough and responsible enough to drive a car, or for that matter a fully armed Stryker tank. Her father had promised her a car of her own when she officially earned her driver's license next year, and she was already working on a short list of possibilities. She was a car enthusiast, another way she resembled her father.

Nessie had ridden to school with Jacob almost every day during her freshman year. That was her first time attending school - in fact, her first experience spending any significant amount of her day away from the family and out among the human populace - and Edward and I had panicked a little. We both decided Nessie should not be sent into the unfamiliar school environment without a family member on hand. However, our newest cover story had already been set in motion, and none of us could easily change our identities and pass for high school students at that point. Fortunately, Jacob's cover story had been left until last. With a little clever handling by Jasper, we were able to present Jacob to the school as a gifted but disadvantaged youth who'd been in trouble but was hoping for the proverbial second chance, that hope made more attainable by a wealthy patron's generous donation to the building fund, and Jake was successfully installed in the senior class at Nessie's school just before the year began. Easily playing the role of intelligent but smart-mouthed kid, Jake kept discreet track of Nessie and stood ready to inform us immediately if problems developed.

By the following year, we were ready - more or less - to let her attend school without constant supervision.

Although Jacob was happy to help, our obligation to him for his year impersonating a high school student was a godsend for the family. Repaying him for this service gave us the excuse we needed to provide for him in some way, something he'd resisted before. When he refused to allow the family to pay his college tuition, we set him up in business instead. Jake insisted his own fully-equipped high-end auto repair shop was too generous a return for merely going to high school an extra year, but we wore him down. Since Jacob had started moving around the continent with us in order to be near Nessie, we'd hoped to place him under the Cullens' financial umbrella without it seeming like a handout. This looked like the perfect opportunity to move in that direction. In the end, Jacob had accepted the shop and the chance to work on upscale and classic cars, and did his utmost to make sure it remained profitable.

Sadly, he would not be able to remain in one place long enough to establish a reputation. Edward had told me, in confidence, that Jacob worried about his future as a poor mechanic, or worse, a penniless, unemployed hanger-on, tagging along after a beautiful heiress who was forever out of his league. Most of the time, he was more than satisfied to be close to Nessie and an extension of the Cullen family, but sometimes his situation seemed to bother him. Worst of all, he had no real choice in the matter. Imprinting made a lot of his decisions for him.

Jake quickly turned his car around and sped down the driveway, fast enough to look heedless but not quite fast enough for me to protest. He liked to ride that line. Nessie waved to me happily as she rode past, her copper-coloured ponytail fluttering in the breeze from the open car window. I grimaced; she would look more 'normal' if she kept the window closed in this weather.

I was struck, as always, by how beautiful Nessie was, as beautiful as she was kind and affectionate and intelligent and creative. This was partly maternal fondness, but also partly objective reality. Nessie was lovely and striking. She had the dark brown eyes I'd once possessed, and her father's vivid auburn hair, curling in her case, and his features. The strong, straight nose and square chin, so appealingly masculine on Edward, somehow did not detract from Nessie's delicate appearance. They only gave her a brave, forthright look which was a touching addition to her overall femininity. She looked, Edward and I had once decided, like a classical statue representing some noble but slightly energetic virtue, like Fortitude or Justice.

Yes, we actually sat around and talked about which virtue our daughter would make a good statue of. We were that pathetic. But then, Renesmee was a very, very special daughter.

I returned to the house and replaced my coat in the hall closet, drifting toward the sound of Ravel's _Sonatine_. Edward smiled as I entered the room, his fingers continuing to move smoothly along the piano keys.

Esme looked up in surprise from the kitchen desk, where she was sketching out plans for a possible future home in northern Alberta. "I thought you were driving Nessie to school."

"Jacob offered to take her on his way to work." I sat down beside Edward on the piano bench. I loved watching him play. He finished Sonatine and launched into _Cincinnati Stomp_.

From Carlisle's study, I could hear the distinctive sound of his cell phone, which Emmett had set to ring with the Mickey Mouse March. Carlisle had never changed it; whether out of indifference, to avoid hurting Emmett's feelings, or because it was actually his preferred ringtone, I wasn't sure. A moment later, he entered the main living area, calling softly for the others as he walked through the doorway. Members of the family began to appear within seconds.

"Eleazar's phoning from London," Carlisle explained to us. The Denali were on a family trip to Great Britain; we hadn't expected a call from them until they came home. Carlisle spoke into the phone. "Eleazar, I'm putting you on speaker."

"Hello, my friends." Eleazar's gentle voice came through clearly. "I hope you are all well?"

We answered in chorus. "How is your trip going?" Esme asked.

"Extremely well. We are having a wonderful time. As much as we love our home, the history and culture here are a refreshing change. Carmen is enjoying the ancient architecture, Tanya the nightlife, Kate and Garrett are visiting historical sites, I have been spending time at the British Museum, and we have all been to the theatre four times so far." The Denali had moved from Alaska partly in order to be closer to our family, and were in a very isolated setting. It made for more comfortable living in many ways, but lacked in some civilized amenities.

"I wanted to tell you about an interesting chance meeting we had the other day." We listened more intently. Eleazar had certainly called for a specific reason, and his voice now became more serious. "We were all walking together on our way to the theatre when we heard beautiful violin music just ahead. A young man was playing in the street - busking, I believe they call it - for whatever coins the passers by would drop into his hat. A surprisingly handsome individual, with a certain aura about him, which we all noticed from a distance. It was just after sunset."

I now understood. The violinist they had encountered was a vampire, and Eleazar was speaking circumspectly, in case their call was being overheard or even monitored. His time with the Volturi had taught him to be cautious.

We looked at each other. "Interesting," Carlisle replied. "Did you speak to the gentleman?"

"We did. We stopped a moment to listen to him play, standing back a bit, you understand, to avoid making him feel intimidated. About his playing, that is."

"Of course."

"It was the most fascinating thing. We couldn't help but notice that the young musician had an unusual eye colour." Carlisle's eyebrows shot up, and we all moved a little closer to the telephone. "They were precisely the same shade as...as Kate's eyes. You know how uncommon that is."

A vampire without red eyes - one that did not hunt humans, then. And until now, someone unknown to us, even to Carlisle.

"Very uncommon, indeed," Carlisle replied. "Especially between people not in the same family."

"Exactly. Quite a coincidence to encounter it at random, but a coincidence it was."

"I see. And did the violinist notice the similarity as well?"

"He did. He seemed very much startled by it. We waited until his song was finished, and the crowd had moved on, and then greeted him. We ended up in conversation - about his music - and then the subject of his, er, resemblance was mentioned. It made him wonder if we had other things in common. We seemed to get along so well, we left him with an open invitation to drop by at the house we were renting, at any time before we left England."

"Did he mind this spontaneous offer?"

"Oh, no. He was a most friendly and outgoing person. However, he mentioned he was going to rejoin his wife, or sweetheart - a lady, in any case - and we naturally expanded the invitation to include her."

"It can be very educational to meet local residents when you are abroad."

Carlisle was probably trying to make this sound more like a casual tourism conversation. I felt a little like laughing at the whole secret password, hidden meaning routine, but kept it to myself. I was as interested as the others in Eleazar's news.

"Very. The gentleman did, in fact, drop in on us later that week, and we had a long and fascinating conversation. His young lady did not accompany him, as she is apparently very shy of strangers, but he implied that she was waiting eagerly to hear more about his visit with us."

"Are they natives of London?"

"The gentleman's _novia_ is originally from London, I understand, and she lived there until fairly recently. The musician is from some village in Scotland which he left many years ago, a small place which I think is no longer even on the map." The male vampire was rather old, then, if I understood Eleazar, and his mate had been human more recently. "They usually reside in the country, which they find more agreeable, but come into London frequently. The man makes what living he can with his music."

"It would be interesting to meet them."

"Well, odd you should mention that. Our friend was so intrigued by what we told him about North America and our life at home - and we did in fact mention you and your family as well - that he became determined to try and travel here when he could, he and his companion."

"Would that be difficult for someone in his position? As a street musician, that is. He is probably not a wealthy man."

"No, indeed. However, we were able to assist him with information on plane fares." In other words, the Denali had offered to buy them tickets. "What he was more concerned about was the trouble of obtaining a new passport. You know how inconvenient all this paperwork can be."

Jasper responded this time. "It can be, but with the right information, the process is quick and simple." As Eleazar had obviously hoped, Jasper was offering to provide forged documents if required.

"I am glad to hear you say that, Jasper. Perhaps you can send any helpful tips you may have by overnight mail to our London address."

Jasper looked at Carlisle, and received a nod. "I'd be happy to help. Maybe you can email me the particulars, so I can make my advice more specific."

"Right away. Well, I must run. I look forward to hearing from you, and we should be back home within the week."

"Goodbye, Eleazar, and thank you for the call," Carlisle replied. "Give our love to Carmen and the others."

"Of course. Goodbye, all."

Carlisle snapped the phone shut, and we stood and looked at each other a moment. "Well, what d'you know!" Emmett said. "More vegetarians!"

"And possibly coming here." Esme's eyes were wide.

"Well, naturally they're coming here," Emmett said, laughing. "We're smack dab in the middle of the vegetarian vampire capital of the world!"


	2. Growing Up

Buzz about the Denalis' surprising discovery continued, off and on, for most of the morning. It led to talk of others who had attempted the Cullens' lifestyle in the past and given it up quickly, and to Nahuel and his aunt, who were tentatively committed to hunting only animals. We all hoped they continued. I half listened to the speculations, and to the sound of Edward picking out a composition on the piano, as I opened my laptop and added the finishing touches to my upcoming term paper. It was not due for another six weeks, but my vampiric speed and mental capacity allowed me to stay ridiculously far ahead in my studies. I hit Save on the final update of my report on regression to the mean, another inevitable A+, and picked up my worn copy of The Great Gatsby. I had been happily surprised to learn that perfect recall did not ruin the pleasure of re-reading favourite literature.

Eleazar sent the needed information by email within the hour. Jasper examined the message briefly. "I should contact Jenks," he told Carlisle. "I'll have him prepare travelling papers for two entirely new identities, and get started on whatever they might need to reside here, just in case. We don't know how long these people will want to stay."

Carlisle quickly scanned the information Eleazar had forwarded. "I can understand why they would want to come here. Apparently they had never met, or even heard of, another vampire who lived this way. They must have felt rather isolated."

"I suppose you would know." Jasper spoke casually and kept his eyes on the computer screen, open to further discussion but careful not to place Carlisle under the slightest pressure to share more of his history. It was odd: Jasper would freely announce a family member's mood or emotions when it was relevant to our safety or personal harmony, but otherwise he was impeccably discreet with our privacy.

"That's true." Carlisle smiled at him. "It was a very lonely few centuries, although recent years have more than made up for it. Being alone in my convictions made them more of a burden to maintain. It may well be the same for Eleazar's new acquaintances." He looked at Jasper. "Come to think of it, you would know as much about that as anyone."

Jasper shrugged, quickly memorizing and permanently deleting the data he'd been sent. "As long as I was with Alice, it wasn't a burden. At least our street musician has one companion who shares his lifestyle."

"So we assume," Carlisle said thoughtfully. "The Denali never did actually meet the mate. Perhaps it's only _his_ eyes that are an unusual colour."

Jasper looked at him in surprise. "A 'vegetarian' living with a conventional vampire? Is that likely?"

"There is no basis for deciding, really, how likely it is."

"It would be difficult, to say the least."

"Yes, indeed. Probably difficult for both of them. It might explain why she was reluctant to meet with Tanya's family."

Jasper pushed away from the computer desk. I looked up from my reading and saw his concerned expression. "Do you want to find out more before we send papers?"

Carlisle seemed to ponder a moment, then he looked around at the family members gathered around the living area. "Esme?" he said softly.

"I'm in the garden," her voice floated in from the frozen, white expanse she still called a garden, even in the middle of winter. "I'll be right in."

The rest of us were already present. "Could we speak for a moment, please?" Carlisle asked formally. He led the way to the antique table that was, by established custom, the setting for most important family discussions. We flitted instantly to the table, Edward leaving his piano behind and sitting beside me. Esme paused at the door to remove her snow-covered shoes, and joined us as well.

"Jacob is at his shop?" Carlisle asked me.

I nodded. "And Nessie's at school."

"Fine. You are all aware that we are preparing to sponsor a pair of refugees." We all smiled at that characterization of the facts. "I want to be certain we are doing the right thing. Jasper and I were discussing one possibility." He looked at Esme, and she nodded: she'd heard the discussion from outside.

Jasper frowned. "All Eleazar and the others actually know is what this individual told them, and what they saw for themselves. He may not hunt humans, but we have no such evidence about his mate. She might follow conventional hunting practices. For that matter, we have only this stranger's word that she even exists."

"That she _exists_? Jasper, that's just..." I stopped, and Jasper gave me an amused smile, feeling my reluctance to dispute him. "I was going to say, that's overcautious even for you. Why would this man make up an imaginary companion?"

"We don't know. That's the point. We don't know anything about this person."

"That's true." Rosalie looked concerned. She turned to Carlisle. "Should we be bringing people here we know nothing about? It seems risky."

"One or two vampires? What's the danger?" Emmett asked dismissively.

"Uncertain, although we have no reason to link them to the Volturi at this time." I could almost feel the reaction run through all of us at the mention of the Volturi. Although we seldom spoke of them since our showdown in Forks, the Volturi would remain a potential threat in all our minds. Edward's suggestion that they would eventually try picking us off one by one was at the backs of all our minds, and was always an unspoken factor in our decisions as a family. Our lives were otherwise virtually carefree, but we knew the Volturi would not simply forget about us.

Jasper glanced almost imperceptibly at Alice. He had that narrow-eyed look that indicated risk analysis was going on in his mind.

Alice had been scanning ahead, and finally shook her head. "No, no Volturi connection, but I can't say much more. Too many variables at the moment. People are changing their intentions back and forth."

"Understandable," Rosalie commented. "These people - or possibly one person - are an unknown factor."

"But..." I stopped again.

Carlisle smiled at me. "Go ahead, Bella."

"But we do know a _few_ things about him."

"Like what?" Jasper asked.

"Well, we know he plays music in the street."

Emmett made a derisive sound. "_That's_ helpful."

"Maybe it is, though. I mean," I felt Edward squeeze my hand encouragingly, "it suggests he doesn't mind being around humans. He goes into a large city and plays music for them when crowds are gathering for the theatre."

"Okay, good point," Emmett conceded.

"And we know he doesn't hunt humans. Even _Jasper_ wouldn't suspect him of changing his eye colour to gold for no apparent reason." Jasper snorted. "And since it doesn't look like there are other vegetarians around where he lives, it means he made that decision on his own. Doesn't that tell us something important about him?"

"Yes," Carlisle said. "That is a good point."

"But why would the female stay out of sight?" Jasper asked. "If it's because she found the Denali a threat, she would never let her mate approach them alone."

"We don't know why, but it's not necessarily suspicious. Maybe she's not his mate, only a casual acquaintance. Maybe she really is shy."

"Or maybe she truly does not exist," Esme added. "He may have simply lied to impress the others, to seem less destitute and alone to this large family. Perhaps that is not important. If he has a mate who hunts as he does, he is telling the truth. If he does _not _have a mate, it means he refrains from hunting humans without any form of support or companionship."

An argument that allowed for thinking the best of someone, no matter what the circumstances, was a very Esme-like solution. Carlisle smiled at her, and Jasper nodded approvingly. "That's valid."

"And," I said, "we also know what the Denali family think of him. They may not be actually gifted in reading people, but they are fairly good judges of character, I think. _They_ all liked him well enough to arrange transportation here after two meetings, and it's not like any of them are impulsive about this kind of thing." I wasn't entirely sure why I was so determined to defend this total stranger. I think the idea of him wandering around alone, trying to subdue his homicidal instincts without so much as a word of encouragement, made me feel sorry for him. The image of him standing on the dark street playing the violin for his potential prey seemed strangely touching.

Carlisle looked around the table. "Further concerns?"

There did not seem to be any. He looked at Jasper, who shook his head. "I'm satisfied."

"Very well. We may be expecting visitors in the next few weeks."

"And while I have you all here," Esme added, "_please_ remember to take your shoes off at the door, at least until the ground is less slushy." Emmett started making whiny noises, and she swatted him playfully. "That especially applies to those with the biggest feet."

We started drifting back to our previously scheduled activities. "So it was just the five of them on this trip, after all," Emmett said. "I thought Nahuel might end up going with them."

Rosalie snickered. "He and Tanya have been circling each other for so long, they're going to get dizzy."

"Jasper? Care for a wager on how soon they end up together?" Emmett and Jasper put their heads together to work out odds. Interestingly, Jasper was betting for an alliance within the year.

"Carlisle," Edward said as he stood, "my equipment and studio fees are due this week." Edward was majoring in music yet again, partly because it allowed us to attend the same university.

Carlisle turned to him. "Is that a problem?"

"No, but it should appear to come from _your_ account." The music department believed Edward to be financially supported by his older sister's family, part of the slightly convoluted cover story we were using this time around.

"Oh, of course." Carlisle disappeared and returned instantly with his chequebook. Family money was all drawn from the same ultimate source, but it was run through multiple accounts for the sake of realism, and so we wouldn't look like some kind of socialist commune.

"Yeah, we have to remember Edward's cover story for now is overindulged trust fund brat," Emmett commented.

"It's plausible, at least," I said, giving Edward a mischievous look. Emmett enjoyed that. "I guess that would make _me_ the idle, pampered, dilettante wife of an overindulged trust fund brat."

"What campus guidance staff call OTFB's," Alice said darkly.

"They handed out cautionary literature during orientation week," I told her.

"'Could _you_ be an OTFB without realizing it?'" she read from an imaginary pamphlet. "'Watch for the warning signs.'"

"The first warning sign is being able to afford this college in the first place," I pointed out. "Their tuition makes me feel ashamed of myself."

"We could always go back to public high school," Edward suggested slyly. "That's free of charge."

I opened my eyes wide in pretend distress. "No! I'll manage." My first time through high school was still too recent a memory.

"Please, other than for Nessie, let's try to avoid high school as long as possible," Alice said. "I hate having to dress like a freshman. It was weird to go out in the morning looking like a little schoolgirl, then come home to my husband."

"How do you think _I_ felt?" Jasper muttered.

"Apart from having to move sooner, college is a better option. Especially if you're a married student," Rosalie said. "It's simpler as a cover story, and the profs treat you with more respect." 'More respect' meant the faculty refrained from openly hitting on her. It was a problem for Rosalie, and she simultaneously enjoyed the admiration and resented the attitude, an ambivalence that was built into her from an early age.

"I'll keep that in mind." I started gathering my papers and laptop into my Alice-approved Italian leather briefcase for my afternoon classes.

"You're not leaving yet, are you?" Edward asked.

"In about forty minutes. I wanted to stop at the library first." I stacked my 'return' books next to my classroom items. Access to a college library was one good thing about playing perpetual student.

He touched one of the volumes. "A biography of Frida Kahlo?"

"Nessie asked me to take that out for her. They don't have much in the public library here."

"Isn't that a little mature for her?" he asked, flipping through the pages.

"Good question." Our eyes met, and I shrugged. It was an ongoing issue. We couldn't know for sure what Nessie's true mental or emotional age was, so it was difficult to make judgments about what she was or was not ready for. I was reluctant to deny her information if she asked for it, but Edward wavered on that subject. "The book doesn't seem all that adult, anyway." He continued to examine it with a slight frown, and I laughed at his parental caution. "She wanted the book because she saw one of Kahlo's paintings and liked it, that's all. Last month she was reading about Beatrix Potter."

He smiled crookedly. "I know, I can't force her to stay a child forever."

"I sometimes wish we could, though," I admitted, "or at least a _little_ longer."

"It would help to know exactly what age we're dealing with."

Carlisle, reading in a far corner, coughed faintly. None of us ever actually needed to cough. In this household, it was understood he was listening to our conversation, but now he was asking permission to openly acknowledge that fact and join in. It was the equivalent of a courtesy knock on an open office door. We both turned slightly to include him.

"For what it is worth, her physical age is close to her present cover story, or slightly older. She has _very_ nearly stopped growing." Carlisle was still taking regular measurements of Nessie, as he had done since her birth. "By current estimates, she will gain another quarter to third of an inch."

"That's good news," I said. I was the second shortest in this fairly statuesque family. "I'm glad she's taller than I am."

Carlisle smiled. "Her development is mostly consistent with a girl in the mid to late teens. She is delayed in only one area that I know of." He looked at me. "There is still no sign of...?"

"Um, no, not so far." Nessie was probably unaware that her grandfather was standing by to take note of when her menstrual cycles commenced. I hoped so, anyway. We did appreciate his scientific approach, and the background information it provided. We didn't have a lot to go on, dealing with a hybrid like Renesmee. "I did have, you know, 'the talk' with her a while back, and she said she would let me know if anything was going on. I explained to her it might never happen." We realized it was a possibility that Nessie's vampire nature could win out in this area. She might never be able to have children.

"It might simply occur later in her case, for some reason," Edward suggested. He didn't like the idea of Nessie being deprived of anything, including reproductive potential.

"It's true, her growth is not 100% parallel in all areas. We can only wait and see," Carlisle said.

Edward nodded. "But it's her emotional age I was concerned with at the moment."

"Oh yes, but perhaps her physical age would give some indication of that."

"I'm not so sure." Edward sank to a chair opposite Carlisle, and I followed. I felt no need to sit, but these days acting human was becoming automatic for me, even when at home with the family. "It worries me a little. Physically, she's nearly adult. Mentally, she's always been far beyond her years, by human standards. Can we assume that emotional maturity will develop just as quickly? Maybe it's something that requires more experience, more actual time."

"That is not easy to say," Carlisle replied. "And, of course, it is almost impossible to measure objectively."

"I just don't want to burden her with more than she is ready for. It would be easy to treat her as an adult because she is physically and intellectually adult, when she may need more time to be regarded, partly, as a child. Not controlled, just supported, given a safe place to experiment with immaturity and bad judgment."

"Like a newborn," I said.

"Exactly! It's hard to say how much she needs that, if at all."

"With human children you go by their actual age, more or less. That doesn't help in this case." I shrugged.

"No," Carlisle agreed thoughtfully. "I think we can only judge by what we observe of Nessie's own behaviour and any concerns she has, as new experiences occur. It should not be that difficult. _She_ does not tend to disguise her feelings."

"What are you looking at _me_ for?" I asked.

He laughed. "For the reason you suspect, my dear; but also because I was reminded of your early days with the family, both before and after being transformed. In addition to being responsible for helping you adjust to your new life, we had to take into account that we were dealing with - not a child, of course, but a very young person. You were only seventeen, after all."

"_Eight_een!" I said indignantly. "For most of that time I was eighteen. I was legally an adult. _Completely_ different situation."

"I stand corrected," he chuckled. "But you see my point. We have some experience with what Edward refers to: providing a safe place to mature. He was seventeen as well," Carlisle added unexpectedly.

"Edward? Was he difficult as a teenager?"

"I would not say difficult, but he was a good example of the very thing we are discussing. Mature in virtually every way, yet still in need of the kind of emotional security you might offer a child. Not a great deal, and not often. He felt he was too old to receive that kind of care - that was the only difficulty he presented."

Edward returned an affectionate look. "You always managed to give me what I needed, though, without making me feel like a child."

A moment of silent communication seemed to take place between them before Carlisle continued. "If you think so, then you know exactly how to treat your daughter."

"That's true, isn't it? You were always a good father to me."

"And to me," I added.

Edward turned to face me. "I know you think I worry about her too much."

"Not _too_ much." I smiled at him. I could never hold his concern for Nessie against him. "But you know, Carlisle's right. This family has a lot of experience with giving people a safe place to finish developing, even people who are basically adults. Nessie's had that from the beginning. She was always very advanced at the same time she was a baby or a little kid, and in this household she was allowed to be both."

"It was a virtually ideal environment for her situation," Carlisle mused.

"A pretty unusual situation. It's just as well we didn't try to send her to school earlier."

"Yes, she could not have been better cared for, or educated, than here in the family," Edward agreed.

"She's ready to be outside the family now. Really, Edward, she likes expanding her horizons; she's not being pushed before she's ready. She's not shy or self-conscious. And just like you, when _you_ were seventeen," I grinned at Carlisle, "she needs less sheltering than she used to, but when she does need it, we'll be available."

"I could not agree more." Carlisle laid a hand on Edward's shoulder. "Your daughter has always had everything she could want from a father, Edward. Trust your own judgment in this. And your wife's."

Edward gave a nod.

"Thank you, Carlisle."

"There is no need."

"Have you ever considered that your true calling was family counsellor?" I asked him.

He smiled and reached for his book.

Edward and I walked slowly toward the door, picking up our class materials on the way by. We called a quiet goodbye as we left, hearing replies from Esme and Carlisle, but none from Alice or Jasper, who had both left for their own college classes, or from Rosalie or Emmett, who were upstairs in their room for reasons which would be officially disregarded. Reaching the garage, we played rock/paper/scissors - a game few were able to play against Edward - to decide whose vehicle we would take. He won, and we climbed into the midnight blue Volvo which had replaced his earlier, silver Volvo.

He drove slowly, especially for him. "You know, Nessie is developing in one other area that I know of." He seemed reluctant to mention it.

"What's that?"

"She's starting to take some interest in boys."

"Do you mean she's said something about it, or...?"

He looked at me, a little apologetically. "I don't _try_ to invade her privacy. It's just that sometimes, I get bits of passing thoughts. It's unavoidable."

"I know." It had to be difficult for Edward. "Other parents only have to decide whether or not to read their child's diary."

"I'm afraid I might have been a diary reader, given the chance. I don't approve in theory, but I'd probably have worried myself into it."

I shook my head at him. "So what is it she's thinking about boys?"

"Not very much. In fact, it's those thoughts which made me wonder if she wasn't still something of a child emotionally. She may be a little backward in this one area. As I may have been, myself."

"So was I. I think so, anyway, judging by what I heard from other students back in Phoenix."

"You can't go by what they say."

"I guess you would know."

"And I have to admit, I am delighted you were slightly delayed. Long enough to wait until you'd met me, at least."

"I made up for it later, by getting married the second it was legal. And you've more than made up for it." He grinned, as well he might. "But go on. What about Nessie made you think...?"

"Well, of course, I've heard more than my share of the thoughts of high school girls. They start becoming aware of the opposite sex at a fairly early age, but their thoughts, at first, are not what you could call romantic, much less erotic. Well...modern girls have become more jaded, but I'm giving an historic overview."

"Girl fantasy through the ages," I nodded.

"At first, there is a vague idea that they will end up courting and marrying one day, and they play out those possibilities in their minds. This could begin when they are still quite young children. Gradually, the interest becomes more personal. They start to focus on specific boys, decide which they find attractive. Then, they begin to imagine themselves actually involved in a love affair, sometimes with real boys they know, sometimes - _more_ often, at first - with favourite celebrities or role models." He looked over at me. "Some of their choices these days are horrifying."

I laughed. "Teenaged girls have terrible taste in men." He raised an eyebrow, and I laughed again.

"Eventually the fantasies become more...mature."

"_Do_ they?" I knew he endured seeing himself as the object of quite a few.

"I try to avoid hearing those, especially."

"Understandable."

"The thing is, Nessie is still more or less at the earliest phase."

"Oh!"

"You sound surprised."

"I probably shouldn't be. She hasn't talked to me about boys, in any sense, but I guess I assumed she would avoid doing that. I was pretty reticent with my parents, even with Renee, but come to think of it, that's not like Nessie."

"No, it's not."

"She's talked to me about love and marriage, but not as if she had a personal stake in it. You know, wanting to know how you and I met, or to hear about our wedding. And she's asked questions about couples outside the family, when something they did confused her. She's asked about divorce, stepfamilies, things like that. As for the physical stuff, I gave her the basic talk, her school filled her in a little bit more, and of course Rosalie provided the advanced programme."

We both smiled at that memory. Two years ago, Nessie had approached Rosalie with questions about sexuality - not for any practical purpose on Nessie's part, it seemed, but just because she was curious about how it all worked, and how people felt about it. We never did ask her why she chose Aunt Rosalie. Rose had gone ahead and answered her questions.

When Edward found out, he'd been livid, not to mention terrified of what kind of information Rosalie might have imparted, and Rose was coldly offended at his lack of trust. There was a hostile silence between them, until Edward 'heard' the whole discussion from Rosalie's thoughts, and from Nessie's. Edward had then gone to Rosalie and told her he'd been wrong, that he could not have imagined the matter being dealt with more delicately, lovingly or appropriately, that he was glad his daughter had come to Rosalie first. He asked Rosalie's forgiveness for ever doubting her judgment or her commitment to Nessie's well-being. It was the loveliest apology I'd ever heard, and of course Rosalie accepted it. And we were spared the discomfort of the first real sex talk. I'd thanked Rosalie for that as well, later on.

A thought crossed my mind: is this something Jake should know? I immediately dismissed the idea. It had uncomfortable overtones of a progress report to a waiting client. No matter how devoted Jacob was to Nessie, no matter how much he gave up for her, he was not automatically entitled to her.

This thought reminded me of something else, and I filed it away for later consideration.

Edward was watching me. "Are you concerned about this?"

"No, not at all. There's nothing wrong with being gradual in these matters. She takes after her parents, that's all."

"Things might change if boys start taking an active interest."

"I suppose that's inevitable."

"One day, she'll receive three dance invitations in one day, and the genie will be out of the bottle for good. At least you'll be able to advise her on what to do in such circumstances."

"Blush, make excuses, and try to flee. I don't think that would be her approach." I grimaced at the memory of my own sudden popularity at Forks High School. "And you'd have more experience to share than I would. Nobody ever took an interest before that stupid dance. It was weird."

"I find that hard to believe. The boys were fascinated by you from the day you arrived."

"Hmm. I have a theory about that."

That made him smile. For some reason, he loved my theories, and the more insignificant the subject matter, the better. "Please go on."

"Okay. I was never asked out when I was in Phoenix. Zero attention from the boys." He looked at me. "What?"

"Nothing. What then?"

"Well, thinking back, I didn't get that kind of attention in Forks, either, until I'd been at school a short time. I remember noticing you and the others, and asking Jessica about you, right after I arrived, and things were still fairly normal at that point. The feeding frenzy didn't start right away."

"I think you are mistaken. I was privy to some of the boys' thoughts, remember. They were fascinated by the new girl."

"Maybe, but wasn't there a distinction between being interested in the new student just because she was a new student - which the girls were as well - and actually wanting to ask her out, which came a little bit later?"

He thought that over. "You may be right, but what do you conclude from that?"

"I think it was you."

"Excuse me?"

"It was because of _you_. It was only after I started to notice you that I got this bizarre rush of attention."

"There was nothing bizarre about it. You were the most fascinating girl any of them had ever encountered." He frowned. "What are you saying? You think they realized you had noticed me, and it made them jealous?"

"No. At least, I don't think so."

"I don't either. I was not seen as a possible rival for some time."

"I didn't mean that, anyway. I just meant, nobody was interested in me until after I had noticed you." He shook his head, confused. "_I_ was the one who had changed, I think."

He blinked. "Really?"

"It adds up. I held no attraction for anybody back in Arizona, at school or anyplace else. Or, for that matter, when Renee and I went away on vacation. I don't think I was repulsive or anything; I just didn't have the mojo." He snorted. "At the school in Forks, guys were only interested in me as a new kid. Then I spotted you, and suddenly I was..." It still embarrassed me to think about it.

"...being relentlessly courted by every male for miles around?"

"While you stood there and watched, laughing like a hyena!"

"I'm sorry, love. Your reactions were just too entertaining; and it was hardly my place to intervene. Besides which, it calmed me to watch you refuse my rivals, one after another."

"They were never your rivals," I muttered.

He chuckled. "Let's see if I understand. Your theory is that encountering me caused such a storm of emotion in your innocent heart that you were altered overnight, the resulting change so devastating that young men who had formerly thought of you as no more than a sister were thereafter drawn to you irresistibly, a moth to a flame."

"You took the words out of my mouth." He was still smiling. "I suppose you think it's all pretty funny."

"Not at all. In fact, I find it likely."

"Really?" I couldn't tell if he was teasing or not.

"Based on my experience, yes." Still looking out the windshield, he took my hand. "You had a similarly earth-shaking effect on me. My family noticed it; they said I was like a different person after I met you. Human reactions to me were altered. It would not have surprised me if I suddenly looked or sounded differently to anyone I encountered. I was changed." He sighed, and finally turned to me. "It was a long time before I could entertain the idea that you were changed as well."

He pulled into the student parking lot and swerved into place, still holding my hand. We sat quietly for a minute or two.

I remembered the original point of our conversation. "What got us into this discussion was talking about Nessie."

"I'm afraid we digressed a bit."

"Maybe not. If someone as oblivious to...the idea of love as I was..."

"As we both were."

"...as we both were, could change so absolutely, practically overnight, we can't assume anything about the timing of Nessie's, um, romantic development, either."

"No. I'm afraid you may be right about that."

"'Afraid'?"

"Not afraid, exactly. But I'm not entirely ready for it."

I sighed. "I'm not, either. But we'll be ready when she needs us to be."

We kissed goodbye and went our separate ways for the afternoon.


	3. After School Special

I was majoring in Biology for the second time in a row, but I didn't find it dull. Thank my supersized brain for that. I was able to absorb new material and mentally examine it for possibilities, and simply ignore data I'd acquired before, without ever losing track of the lecture I was attending. The subject matter was unfamiliar enough to be interesting, but by maintaining a minimal course load I still kept plenty of free time to spend with Edward and Nessie, and the rest of the family. There was always something to do and something to learn. The main disadvantage was the perpetual throat burn I experienced in a classroom full of humans. I also had to avoid calling undue attention to myself, but I'd never been one to speak much in class anyway.

I made occasional exceptions, just to avoid going to the opposite extreme and becoming known as the girl who never spoke. Today, when Professor Garcia, an unfortunate looking but talented instructor, was discussing the catchphrase 'survival of the fittest' and how its popular interpretation compared to biological reality, I let myself be drawn into the conversation.

"Fitness for survival is the only thing that determines how a species develops," one student was saying. I recognized him as Joseph 'Call Me J.J.' Dalgleish, a young man fond of repeating truisms as if he'd just come up with the concept at that moment.

I raised my hand slightly. "Ms. Masen?" the professor nodded to me.

"How would we explain species which survive in spite of being unfit?" I addressed this to the hyperconfident J.J.

He shrugged. "If they survive, then they must be fit for survival. QED."

Professor Garcia looked at me. "Can you give an example?"

"Island species in protected environments." I named a flightless bird which could not run, fight, hide, or otherwise avoid an attack. I'd always found the thing's helplessness adorable. "Not only that, the bird has trouble reproducing. The male's mating display sometimes attracts a female, but is almost as likely to frighten her or cause her to walk off in total indifference."

"Sounds familiar," came a dejected male voice from the back row.

I joined in the laughter. "And after all that, they lay only one egg per year. Nobody could claim these animals evolved to be more fit for survival."

"How _do_ they survive, then?" another girl asked.

"Because they live in an environment without predators. The minute some settlers bring cats on the island, they're doomed. Without intervention they'd be extinct within a year, at best."

"So the same rule applies. Without the threat to their survival, they don't bother to evolve survival mechanisms," J.J. concluded in a weary voice.

At least he didn't say QED again. "Organisms aren't supposed to evolve because they 'bother to' under pressure, like someone deciding to buy burglar-proof windows." A couple of students chuckled at that. "What I'm suggesting is, it might be easy to miss part of the picture. It's not necessarily survival of the fittest, but survival of the safest. Sometimes organisms are safe from extinction because they are more fit, but they might also be safe because of the other organisms around them, or interaction between those organisms; or because of some feature of the environment itself. We might be looking in the wrong direction. If people start neutering their cats, more mice would probably survive; but that doesn't mean the mice have evolved to become more fit."

Garcia nodded. "But we might falsely conclude that some irrelevant change in mice physiology is responsible for their survival. _If_," he emphasized, "we were sloppy thinkers, not taking every factor into account." J.J. leaned his chin on his fist, apparently losing interest.

The discussion continued along these lines, but I didn't participate again. I realized my interest in the subject was driven by a personal ambition of mine. I'd always wondered whether knowing enough about biology, about life in general, could allow me to shed some light on my own nature, my vampire nature, something that remained largely a mystery. I was a member of the species most spectacularly fit for survival of any on the planet, and yet relatively little was known about its physiology. It was an intriguing scientific frontier: the one category of predators that remained outside scientific scrutiny.

J.J. was standing in the corridor as I left the lecture room. "Thanks for the debate," he said to me, casually falling into step beside me. "You brought up some good points."

"Thanks," I mumbled, not looking up from the printed material Garcia had handed out. Pleasant but aloof was the approach to take with humans, for the most part.

He was still walking with me. "I've got a free hour. Want to stop at Ono Cafe and continue this conversation?"

"Um, thanks, but I've got to get going."

"I'll buy you a muffin. Poppyseed," he wheedled.

I laughed, confused by his sudden personality change, and shook my head. "Thanks anyway."

"You know, I get it. You're not good with the one-on-one debate; classroom is even harder. Smart, but a shy girl," he said, almost affectionately. I looked at him in surprise. "But it can get easier with practice. I know; I've been there. Why not rehearse with me? I could provide a non-threatening place for you to do test runs and develop those skills. A safe environment in which to evolve, to use your expression." He gave me a reassuring smile, one that implied more clearly than words that he was 100% on my side.

In only a second or two, I analyzed everything he'd said or done since leaving the classroom. I was struck by how well he'd summed me up, found exactly the approach that might work with someone like me. It was ineffective, because he didn't have the whole story on who I was and what made me tick, but if Angela Masen had been a real, human, 19-year-old sophomore instead of my imaginary persona, she might have been susceptible. As it was, not only was he fighting well out of his weight class, as any man would be when compared with Edward, but I was aware that he was no so much interested in me as simply reacting to being shown up by some girl. It wasn't exactly a crushing defeat by most people's standards, but he resented it. His neck had started to turn red and his pulse increase when I'd made very mild fun of his comment. Now he was trying to get the upper hand in a different arena. He was trying to use both my strengths and my insecurities to gain my trust, and although it wasn't working, I had to admit he had a natural talent for it. It made me a little angry on behalf of nonexistent young Angela, who stood to be pointlessly hurt by this egotistical jerk.

"Thanks, but no." I thought of saying _I have to go meet my husband_, but I preferred not to offer an excuse. Just plain _no_ was better.

I kept walking, but he matched my stride. "Come on, don't be such a snob."

"How am I being a snob?" I asked, then mentally kicked myself for getting drawn in.

"Just because I can't keep up with you in an argument, doesn't mean I'm not good enough to hang out with." He sounded genuinely wounded. My opinion of his talent for manipulation went up a notch. He was still a little juvenile and obvious, but his ability to see and exploit emotions was impressive. He'd rightly guessed that making me feel guilty would be the most effective approach.

It reminded me of something, but I set that aside for now.

This crafty little hotshot made me angry, he _offended_ me, and instead of simply walking away, I stopped and turned to him. Speaking very calmly and pleasantly, I said, "Spare me your stupid mind games, J.J. If you didn't keep up with me, it was because you weren't bothering to make a good argument. You were too busy posturing for the class. When lounging around looking clever stopped working, you lost all interest. I have nothing to gain from a conversation with you." I started moving away, but he was angry now, and grabbed my arm to stop me.

I knew it was a bad idea, but I was annoyed. "You don't want to be doing that," I said. I spoke almost sweetly, as if warning him he'd left his headlights on, but as I did, I focused on one of the big blood vessels in his neck, and I smiled. I really had no idea how this worked - only that it did. I merely had to concentrate on the pleasing scent of his blood, let my facial expression follow that thought, and somehow the message came across. I did nothing overt, but a human close to me at that moment would feel a sudden, inexplicable dread. Later, he would not be able to pinpoint what had caused it; he could not say, _she glowered at me_, or _she spoke in a sinister voice_. If he had to describe it - and I very much doubted J.J. ever would - he would only say: something in that smile made my blood run cold. What he was feeling was a deeply buried instinct telling him he was in the presence of something that confidently regarded him as prey. I looked at him and, for just a second or two, allowed myself to see him as my prey. I wouldn't want to get too used to it, but it felt pretty good.

J.J. exhaled in a rush and took half a step back. "You like to manipulate people," I told him, my voice still gentle, "I can see that; but you won't get much fun out of manipulating me." He stared at me, stammering something about a misunderstanding, still trying to stay in charge of the conversation even as his heart pounded in fear. He really _was_ a control freak. I walked slowly away, and this time he didn't follow.

The minute I left the building, I started feeling guilty about it, of course.

I made my regular pit stop at the college library to squeeze in a half hour of research and study, roughly the equivalent of a full day's work by an average human - so unfair! - and pick up some at-home reading. Edward was waiting at the car when I arrived. We clung together a moment, recharging from our brief absence, and I started for the passenger door.

"So long, Angie!"

I turned toward the shrill voice, and saw a cheerful blonde girl I recognized from the Cell Biology lab, waving as she walked past. I waved back, friendly but not inviting further contact, just like the policy manual recommended. The blonde was one of those humans who suppress their discomfort around us and focus on our attractive qualities instead, and sometimes end up making a pest of themselves as a result. This girl was always trying to borrow my notes and ask what perfume I was wearing and get me to have coffee with her after class. I wasn't inclined to terrorize her, however. She was no J.J., just gregarious. Eventually she'd take the hint and give up.

"Friend of yours?" Edward asked.

"She's in one of my labs. Kind of a nuisance, to be honest. Why do we make some humans nervous when others don't notice a thing?"

"You'd know that better than I would. You were one of those fearless types yourself."

So I was. He started the car and headed off campus, toward Nessie's high school. I told him, rather shamefacedly, about my encounter with J.J. "I feel so awful. He's just a pathetic campus Don Juan. Why did I have to make such a big deal out of it?" Edward only laughed and said he'd probably have done the same.

Ten minutes into the scenic route out of town, the picturesque slate-tiled rooftops of Longfellow Academy came into view. Being connected with Longfellow would have made me very uncomfortable in my human days. The school was excellent academically, had a wonderful Fine Arts programme, a caring and talented faculty, and was very, very expensive. It was housed in a series of yellow brick buildings on a large property which looked like it should be cared for by groundskeepers in smocks, but was actually managed through a student work programme. The school tried to stay on the safe side of elitism by including gifted 'inner city' kids on scholarships and aiming at racial balance, as well as including things like populist history in the curriculum. Nessie fit in there as effortlessly as she did anywhere else, and I trusted her to benefit from a good education without turning into a snob.

We pulled in and parked in the visitor lot a short distance from the school's main building, where we sat in the car, talking, while we waited for the school day to end. Buses stood waiting for the pupils who used them; some travelled from several towns away in order to attend this particular institution. Students began to exit the classrooms and cross the grounds in small groups, chattering and laughing. We saw Nessie in the distance, walking with a group of two boys and three girls. She was as outgoing and at ease in school as I had been withdrawn and awkward. It still amazed me. There was a lot of laughing going on, and some mild horseplay. One of the boys, a gangly kid with ears that stuck out like jug handles, ran behind Nessie and tugged her ponytail. He moved alongside one of the other girls a moment, then dashed back and pulled at her hair again. He repeated this several times. I laughed at Nessie's ineffectual attempts to swat him as he darted past. She could easily have stopped him, but was always careful not to show her abnormal speed in front of classmates.

Edward also smiled as he watched. "She could have had the little pest on the ground a dozen times by now."

I laughed. "Yes, but she's always careful." He nodded.

Then the jug-eared boy ran in front of Nessie, quickly grabbed her shoulders and kissed her on the mouth before skipping away again. He stood at a slight distance, mugging for the other boy and miming warming his hands over the imaginary heat source of Nessie's backside. I glared at him from my place in the front seat of the Volvo.

Edward started to get out of the car, looking furious. "Little hellion!"

I hastily left the car as well. "Edward, it's okay. She's got it."

Before the boy could get out of her reach again, Nessie had kicked him on the shin, hard. "Cut it out, Brad!"

Brad doubled over, clutching his leg. "Jeez, Betts! You didn't have to break my frigging leg!"

"I _didn't_ break your leg," she told him, walking on. "But I will if you try that again."

I grinned at Edward. "See? Under control." He relaxed, put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the car in a casual attitude. "Good," I told him. "_Much_ less like a Secret Service bodyguard."

Brad stalked off, followed by the other boy and two of the girls, who waved an affectionate goodbye to Nessie, apparently unmoved by their friend's injuries. Nessie and the remaining girl, who seemed to be toying with a Goth look to the extent the dress code would allow, continued toward the parking lot.

We could hear the girls' conversation even at a distance, as they finished outlining the many ways in which Brad was a cretin and an annoying toad, and changed the subject to some test they were expecting to write. Nessie headed for our corner of the parking lot, and the Goth Lite girl slowed down as she caught sight of the Volvo. "Beth!" she hissed. "Is _that_ who's picking you up?"

Nessie, who's cover story now made her Elizabeth Platte, nodded. "Sure. They drive me home most days."

"Who _is_ that?"

"My Uncle Evan," Nessie explained, "and Aunt Angela. His wife." It was clear why she described us in precisely that order. The girl's eyes were fixed on Edward. I heard him sigh faintly.

"What a burden it is," I teased him, "to be the answer to a maiden's prayer."

"You look kind of like him," our Goth remarked. "The same hair colour and everything." The two girls reached the car, the aspiring Child of the Night falling slightly behind Nessie as they drew closer, but not making any move to leave.

Nessie gave me a quick, restrained hug, of the kind fitting for a mere aunt, and saved the good stuff for later. She was meticulous about her cover story, I had to admit. "This is Meghan." She turned back to her friend. "My aunt and uncle."

"Hello, Meghan," Edward said politely.

"Hi." She looked from me to Edward. "Um, hi."

The conversation seemed to have stalled. "Would you like a ride home?" I offered. Edward darted me a quick, reproachful look, too brief for Meghan to notice.

"Oh, no. Thanks. My dad's picking me up any second."

Edward looked at Nessie but addressed them both. "Was that blond boy giving you trouble? The one you were walking with earlier?"

Meghan looked surprised. "Brad? He's always like that. He's just looking for attention."

"He's no trouble, don't worry," Nessie said. I hid a smile at the ominous tone of voice.

She and Meghan parted ways, and Nessie took her place in the back seat of the Volvo. She waited until we were out of sight of the school before reaching over our seat backs and giving us each a one armed hug.

I smiled at her. "How did the day go?"

"_Very_ well. Mr. Vogel liked what I said about Pride and Prejudice; I got a perfect score on my Civil War paper - I should tell Uncle Jasper, he helped with that; and my last art project is going on display in the lobby all next month."

"What else?"

"I kicked Brad Nixon for good and sufficient reason, as you saw."

"I did see. Brad Nixon is off my Christmas card list for good."

"We talked about Socialism in Civics class, and now I think the teacher's afraid of getting phone calls from parents. I'm supposed to remind you about my music recital in February, where I'll be playing _Jeux d'eau _and 'a second piece to be determined at a later time.' Actually, they told me to remind my parents. I think Grandma and Grandpa will be getting an invitation in the mail. Ms. Krantz wanted to know if musical talent ran in my family and if my parents played piano, and when I reminded her I was adopted she got all flustered and afraid she might have hurt my feelings. I wish I could tell her about Poppa teaching me to play."

"I wish you could, too," Edward said. "Any further news? Surely nothing more could have been packed into a single day?"

"A girl got sick all over a table in the cafeteria, and there was a food poisoning scare for a little while."

"Always exciting," I agreed.

She reached forward, resting one hand on Edward's neck and the other on mine, and we saw a brief scene from earlier in the day: teachers nervously asking the students at the cafeteria tables whether they felt sick; the vice principal, a high strung man, saying to the head of the school's kitchen staff, 'Think, woman! Did you serve anything with mayonnaise or didn't you?' In the background, a teary, red faced girl was being gently led from the cafeteria by a teacher, while the girl held a plastic bag in front of her face in case of further eruptions.

Now that Nessie had become adept with words, she did not depend on her gift nearly as much. She saved it for things which were hard to get across in words alone, and passed her 'pictures' along as an embellishment to the words, like illustrations in a storybook.

We both laughed at the high drama in the cafeteria. I asked her, "What was it you said about Pride and Prejudice that your teacher liked?"

"That Jane Austen hides the nasty stuff under something pretty."

"Interesting. What kind of nasty stuff?"

"Lots of things. Like the way people were always on the verge of being destitute, or how they had to marry people they didn't even like. Charlotte Lucas was interesting. She was just as good and smart a person as Elizabeth, but look at what she got stuck with. She never really had a choice. Charlotte's part of the story is written to be funny, so people don't always notice how sad it is."

"I may have to reread Pride and Prejudice, just so I can talk about it with you."

"Don't you remember it all anyway?"

"Not perfectly. The last time I read it, I was still human."

"Any more news?" Edward asked.

"Not much. Meghan's getting a letter sent home for coming to school in black nail polish. She's supposed to be Goth."

"So I noticed."

"Meghan's really nice, but she thinks she's too ordinary. She's trying to look like a vampire." Nessie snickered. "She'd be closer to the mark if she just wore a Chanel suit. But then again, not all vampires have their clothes picked out by Aunt Alice."

"Sad but true."

We turned down the long, wooded drive leading home. Nessie grabbed her bag and was out the door before Edward had turned off the engine. From inside, I could hear her greeting the rest of the family and sharing news with them.


	4. News

When we entered the house, Nessie was giving Rosalie her school updates while Emmett made wisecracks when they seemed called for. Jasper was thanked for his assistance with Nessie's successful paper on the War of Secession, and she respectfully explained why she had altered the title to employ the more mundane term, U.S. Civil War.

Carlisle was at the computer checking his emails while I waited my turn. We each had a computer in our room, but often preferred to wait for the 'public' one in the kitchen if we were enjoying the company. Carlisle logged out and turned to face the others. "Tanya wrote to thank us for our assistance. The family are returning home shortly. Their new friends received their papers, but have not left England so far. Tanya thinks they need time to consider their decision. She suspects the female is uneasy about travelling to an unfamiliar place, especially in close quarters with humans."

"I hope they come," Alice said. "We vegetarians need all the support we can get."

"Very true."

Carlisle rose from the desk and I took his place. I opened a message from Charlie, who had finally broken down and learned to deal with email, uncomfortable as he was with the process. Any trouble he had communicating in person was only made worse on the phone, but in an email he somehow became expansive, at least by Charlie standards. He didn't really change the way he expressed himself for this new medium, which made his messages all the more enjoyable.

The subject line, like that of all Charlie's emails, read 'message'.

_"Dear Bella,_  
><em>"I hope you're fine and Nessie is healthy and doing well in school. I'm sure she is because she's the smartest kid I ever saw, including you sorry to say. Not that you were exactly dumb, but you know what I mean. Hope Edward is fine too.<br>_ _"Sue is back on the afternoon shift now and she likes it much better because she can sleep in some. I switched my hours around a little so we would overlap more. She says to say hi, and she says to tell you her hair is past her shoulders now. I don't know why that's important but she said you would want to know._  
><em>"The police cruiser got shot up last week and I have to go through a mountain of paperwork to get it replaced. It's a big pain like any official paperwork. Maybe you already heard about the cruiser. I was in it but I didn't get hurt. It was just some idiot who got drunk and started shooting out the windows of his own house for some idiot reason. The idiot's wife called us and when I showed up he got mad and started firing right at the car. I got behind the cruiser and managed to talk him down. There are more idiots in this town than there used to be, or else I'm getting too damn old to deal with them anymore.<em>  
><em>"I guess you heard Seth graduated from college finally. We thought it would take forever because he had to keep a job and take night courses. Sue felt bad about not paying his whole way, and I did too but we just didn't have the money, college <em>_tuition is brutal. Anyway after Seth won that scholarship out of the blue he was able to study full time and long story short, he gets his diploma in about a week. They do two graduations now, one in the summer and one in the winter, I don't know why. It means the graduation thing is shorter which is good since Sue and I have to go. I'm glad he got his degree because that kid is too bright to be stuck working for minimum wage forever. Seth thought maybe Carlisle sent a recommendation that helped him get the scholarship, if so tell him we said thanks.  
><em> _"Since he finished school we hardly see him any more. I figured after working so hard he was entitled to some running around, and I never thought Seth was one to get in a lot of trouble. Sue thinks he has a girlfriend that he is spending time with, but I haven't seen any sign of one so far.  
><em> _"I know it's not a great time of year to travel and you're probably busy but if you and Nessie get the chance come visit for awhile. And Edward too of course._ _"I got your pictures from last time. Sue showed me how to send pictures by email and I finally got it straight, so I'm sending a couple now.  
><em> _"All the best to the Cullens and give Nessie a hug for me._  
><em>"Love, Dad"<em>

The incident with the cruiser worried me, but at least Charlie came out of it fine. I hoped he was wrong, and that small-town police chief wasn't becoming a more dangerous business. The rest of the message made me smile. Seth's scholarship had, of course, come from the Cullens, as Seth had apparently suspected. I checked out the pictures: one of Charlie and Sue on their front porch, one of Sue and Seth sitting on a piece of driftwood at La Push, and weirdly enough, one of the police cruiser featuring gunshot damage. I composed a reply, attached several photos of Nessie at home and at school, and hit Send. I considered going to Washington for Spring Break. Not the usual Spring Break destination, but then Forks was much less likely to be overcrowded with carousing students than, say, Myrtle Beach.

I quickly dealt with the remaining emails, none of them important. There were no messages from Renee. She now sent letters by regular mail to a post office box in the Sudan, where Edward and I were supposedly working for an international aid organization. It was the only way I could come up with to stay in touch yet avoid meeting her in person. Renee in person just plain saw too much. Her letters were picked up periodically and forwarded to me by our friend Benjamin, who thought the whole scheme was hilarious and was glad to be part of it, and I sent my return letters back to Benjamin to be reposted, receive African postal markings, and travel back to Renee in Phoenix, where she and Phil were now more or less permanently settled. Benjamin also provided us with local news and details to give my letters more realism. I felt incredibly devious going through all this, but it was the price I had to pay to stay in any kind of contact with my mother.

I logged off and rejoined the family, passing along Charlie's greetings and Seth's message of thanks. This was a pleasant time of day: the various students were home from classes, Carlisle hadn't yet left for his night shift at the hospital, and we could relax, set aside the cover story, and enjoy each other's company. Even if we were involved in individual pursuits, there was typically a lot of interaction, since we were all aware of what the others were doing or saying.

Jasper took his turn at the shared computer in the kitchen. "Jenks confirmed, and asked for payment in the usual form." he said. "Our package to England was sent by courier a few days ago. We have no way of knowing if the passports will be used, of course."

Carlisle thanked him for the information.

"By the way," Jasper added, "I'll be hunting tomorrow night, if anybody wants company."

Emmett looked up. "Yeah, I'll tag along, if you're going into the state park. Any special reason why tomorrow?"

"Wednesday is my Intermediate Logic lecture. It's the largest course I'm in. Largest by number of people, that is."

Emmett nodded sympathetically. Jasper's control had continued to slowly but steadily improve, but he still felt the need to be more careful than most of the Cullens. I'd felt badly about having so little trouble by comparison, until he'd told me that I had helped him tremendously. He was convinced that my lengthy preparation prior to being changed was what made the difference, and since then he'd tried to take on a different mindset. He said changing his perspective had made his struggles easier.

I heard the unfamiliar sound of a low-end automobile approaching the house. Jacob was home. Nessie looked up and smiled when she heard the car door slam, but continued with the concerto she was practicing.

Alice suddenly dashed up the stairs, just as Jake could be heard walking up the path to the front door of his cottage, whistling softly. She flitted downstairs and out the back door, carrying shopping bags, and caught up with Jacob before he could get his key in the lock. "I've got something for you," she sang.

"What now?" We all smiled, listening.

"A wreath for your front door."

"Christmas was three weeks ago. I thought you elves kept track of that stuff. You may have noticed that the crappy carols piped into every public building suddenly stopped around that time. I just took down the wreath you put on my door in December."

"This isn't a Christmas wreath. It's just a decorative wreath, in a non-holiday winter theme."

"What for?"

"What _for_! Because it looks pretty. It makes your house look more homey."

"Homey. Right. Did you also bring me a housecat and a patchwork quilt?"

"Jacob," she said stiffly. "I saw this in a store, and I thought it would look nice on your door, so I got it for you. If you don't like it, say so and I'll take it out of your sight." I could picture her, looking like she was hurt but trying to bear it bravely. It was very effective, I knew all too well.

He grunted. "Fine! Let's hang it up. I'll find a nail or something."

She laughed happily. "When you're done, I've got some other things I want to show you." We could hear her rattling the shopping bags. Jake made an irritated noise.

We grinned at each other. As we all knew, Alice was planning to replace Jacob's kitchen curtains and add some new items to his wardrobe. It was part of a larger plot. We all wanted Jacob to not only accept what the family provided for him, but to stop thinking of it as a handout. He _had_ to be with us, being with us meant accepting our hospitality, and we didn't want it to be a burden to him. He'd agreed to live in the guest house we provided as preferable to staying in the actual Cullen household, and certainly preferable to living at a distance from Renesmee, but it hurt his pride to accept. We had been careful to stop calling it the guest house; now it was simply Jacob's house.

The family had agreed that Alice was the best person to get the process started. First, because Jacob had less baggage associated with Alice than with most family members. Second, she made it so clear that she provided material things because _she_ enjoyed it, the offers didn't feel like charity. Finally, she pushed her gifts on him so aggressively, he could feel free to snap at her and regard the items as irritations, which reduced the emotional toll they took. In theory, he would gradually become accustomed to sharing the family fortune without realizing it.

Alice returned with Jacob a few minutes later, the argument between them still underway.

"Just try it on!" Alice was pleading. She held a leather jacket in her hands. Not the motorcycle kind.

"Stop trying to dress me, hobbit! I'm not your Barbie doll!" Where had I heard that before?

"I picked it out myself. It would look great on you!"

"I can buy my own clothes."

"But you'd do it badly. Come on, what can it hurt to try the thing on?" She held it out.

Making the same irritated noise he'd used earlier, Jake snatched the jacket and pulled it on.

"That looks fantastic! I knew it would be perfect." Alice walked rapidly around Jacob, checking the fit from all sides.

"Where am I supposed to wear something like this?"

"In the sauna," Alice said sarcastically. "To work, for one thing."

"I'm a mechanic, evil leprechaun, not a corporate lawyer!"

"You're not some grease monkey, you're an automotive genius who works on gorgeous cars. You should try to look the part." Jake glared down at the leather. "Just take the damn thing, Jacob!"

"Fine! I'll wear the coat! Just shut up about it already!" He took off the jacket and tossed it over a chair near the doorway.

Freed of distractions, he sought out Nessie and started to move toward her where she sat, beside Edward on the piano bench. Nessie smiled at him, indicated 'just a minute,' and continued playing. Jacob nodded and turned back toward the kitchen. "You mind if I use your computer?" he asked the room at large. "I want to check my email."

"Of course, Jacob," Esme told him. "Feel free to use it at any time. You don't have to ask."

"Sure, sure," he said under his breath, sitting down at the desk and logging in. He opened an email and started first to smile, then frown as he read it. He stopped, stared at the far wall for a minute, then apparently read it through again. He got up and left the desk. "Seth says hi," he reported.

Edward looked up from watching Nessie's playing and smiled. "I hear he has his degree."

"Yeah. His mom's over the moon. He might even get a job out of it; social work's a good field to be in right now. Considering the fabric of society's coming apart and all that." Edward snorted at the hyperbole. "At least he doesn't have student loans to pay back. He got some huge scholarship or award or something that paid for everything." Alice chuckled and he looked at her. "What's funny about that?"

"That was no scholarship, Jacob. The money came from the family."

"From the..._what_ family? Don Corleone's?"

"_This_ family! We took care of Seth's college expenses."

He just stared at her a moment. "Are you serious? _Why_?"

"Do you have to ask? Seth is family!"

"How do you figure?"

"Charlie is Bella's father," Alice explained with exaggerated patience. "Seth is Charlie's stepson. _Family_."

"Even so...you just give him a free college education?"

"It's no big deal, Jacob."

"It's a huge deal! Do you know how much that costs? Of course you know; you just paid for it."

"It's _really and truly_ no big deal. Do you know how much money you can accumulate after you live through several generations and can see in advance which stocks will go up? An endless supply. We use money to keep ourselves inconspicuous and to stay comfortable and happily occupied. There's no chance we'll ever run out, so it becomes kind of meaningless. Not to dismiss how important it was to Seth, but it was no sacrifice. I wish you could take the same attitude as Seth."

"How can I just take your money, no matter how much you guys have?"

"It's family money. Are you saying you're not part of our family?" She prepared that little hurt feelings act again, just in case.

That question floored him. "Well...I never thought you guys saw it that way."

Esme looked at Nessie, who was in the middle of a piece of music, and lowered her voice. "Jacob, you saved our Bella's life, multiple times. You protected her and Nessie, at great cost to yourself. And you are now tied to Nessie forever, through no choice of yours, although that fact completely disrupted your own life. You will be a part of her life forever. How can we help but think of you as part of our family?"

Jacob just stared at her. Alice, apparently seeing a window of opportunity, moved in. "It would be so much easier for all of us if you could just stop fighting us all the time, and join in. If you can't see yourself as _really_ part of our family," she took on the hurt voice again, "at least you could make things easier for us by joining in superficially. You know, instead of keeping yourself at a distance all the time."

"I don't...how do I keep myself at a distance? I'm here almost constantly!"

"You know what I mean." Alice was looking at the floor, the picture of wounded sentiments. She was good, I had to admit. "'I'm not taking anything from you people, I can get my own damn house, and my _own_ car, and my _own_ food'!" she said in an extremely poor, high pitched imitation of Jake's voice. "You wouldn't even let us send you to college, after all we've been through together! Even Seth let us pay for his tuition and textbooks. Apparently_ he_ considers us his family much more than you do." She sighed deeply.

I glanced at Nessie. She'd heard none of it. I didn't want her to know about Jake's discomfort with his poor-relation status, and I was sure Jake didn't want her to. I had less than two minutes before her song ended, and she'd probably leave the piano to greet her Jacob. I decided to do my part. "It was the same for me, Jake," I said in a low voice. "From the time Edward and I were engaged, I was given access to all this...stuff. Cars, and credit cards. And all those clothes, of course." I caught Alice's eye. "It felt very weird, but eventually I realized that refusing it would just be making things really inconvenient for everybody else. And like Alice says, it's not the same as taking money from somebody who could expect to ever run out."

"We don't want to impose on you, Jacob," Esme told him, "but it would make things so much easier if you would allow us to include you."

"Easier for you, too," Alice said. "You said you wanted to start college when Nessie did, which is great, but we'll be paying her tuition. We'd love to cover yours too, but what happens if you won't allow it? Do you want to lag behind her forever, academically? Or have her miss out on a good education so she can stay behind with you? You see the problem."

"Yeah," Jacob acknowledged, deep in thought. I knew he was aware of the difficulty. He'd been using his spare time to keep up with his education as best he could, mostly through directed reading and online courses.

"And further down the road," Emmett added, "imagine being married to Nessie and trying to keep _her_ property from touching _your_ property. She's going to have money, you know. Do you want to let that come between you?"

I sent Emmett an angry look. The Cullens generally avoided treating Jake and Nessie's eventual marriage as a foregone conclusion, but Emmett never could be discreet.

"No," Jacob said thoughtfully, "I see what you mean."

"That's assuming you get married eventually," I pointed out quickly. "We don't know for sure how she'll feel about that when the time comes."

"I wouldn't worry about that," Jake said, finally smiling again. "Even if there's a problem, I'm sure I can bring her around."

I didn't really care for that remark. It reminded me of something; but I set it aside for now.

Nessie's piano piece was coming to a conclusion. "Just consider it," Alice told him. "With an open mind."

"Sure."

The music concluded with a flourish. "Very good," Edward said. "You're improving still. I'm sure you'll be more than ready for the recital."

Nessie hugged him and hopped off the piano bench. "Jacob, are you coming to see me play?" She ran over to him and plunked down beside him on the sofa.

"Coming where?"

"Nessie's playing in a piano recital for her school," Esme explained.

"Sure, if I'm invited."

"Of course you're invited!" Nessie said, "I'm inviting my whole family."

Alice gave Jake a significant look. He rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

"Can we go hunt?" Nessie asked. "You said we would today."

"Yeah, why not? If that's okay with everybody." He glanced around the room. Edward nodded.

"Come back early enough to finish your homework," I called after her as they ran out the door, hand in hand. A moment later I heard Jacob's footsteps change to the quick padding sound of gigantic wolf paws, and Nessie's laugh.

Edward returned to his half finished composition, I curled up on the bottom step of the big oak stairwell with a book, and the others went back to their conversations. Over the course of the next few hours, we enjoyed our time together. Those passing for college students worked on their studies, sharing information and classroom anecdotes back and forth. Edward, after coaxing permission out of me, described my encounter with J.J. to the others. Emmett, of course, found that hysterical. We speculated about the newly-discovered couple from London. We brainstormed about the next step in Nessie's education, our next move in winning Jacob over, and a hundred minor household decisions.

After a while, we started to break up into smaller groups. Edward and Jasper started a chess game, which pitted their abilities at controlling thoughts and emotional reactions against each other, as much as their skills at chess. Rosalie played the piano, something she had started devoting more time to lately, while Emmett, lounging next to the piano, alternately read Slaughterhouse Five and teased Rose. Alice and I planned Nessie's spring wardrobe, something my tolerant daughter still allowed us to take charge of. Esme sketched out plans for a house she was designing for us two moves from now. Carlisle was reading a battered, oversized book in Greek.

Evenings at home were not always this quiet, by any means, but they were usually this companionable.


	5. Homework

The sun went down early at this time of year, and it was well after dark that Nessie and Jacob returned. Nessie set up her laptop and books at the kitchen table and started her homework, occasionally asking for information or advice from one or all of the others. Jacob sat cross-legged in a corner chair where he could talk to us and watch Nessie at the same time.

Nessie sighed. "More conversation starters."

"More what?" Jacob asked.

"My history teacher always gives us assignments like this. We have to answer," she made air quotes, "'_thought provoking_' questions and the next day in class we read our answers. It's always designed to lead us into some subject he wants to discuss, related to the history lesson."

"What's so bad about that? It sounds like he's trying to make the topic interesting."

"Half the time I have to lie when I give my answers."

"Oh, yeah."

"What are the questions this time?" I asked.

"We're supposed to list ways people group themselves, like categories they put themselves in, that might mean a lot to them. Then we check the ones that are important to us."

"Sounds like he's preparing to cover some ethnic conflict," Jasper said.

"History's full of those," Emmett agreed.

"What categories do you have so far?" Jacob asked her.

"Species." She giggled.

"That might matter less to your classmates than to you," Edward told her, smiling.

"Okay. How about nationality?"

"Race," Jacob suggested.

"Religion or subsect of a religion," Carlisle said.

Nessie was writing them down. "Family? Maybe which school you go to?"

"Good. How about age group, sex, income bracket," I said.

"Sports team," Emmett suggested. "Fans of one team will practically kill fans of another one, under the right circumstances."

We came up with several more. Nessie took them down, then quickly checked off two. "Which two did you choose?" I asked.

"Species and family," she said. "I don't think the others are very important."

She packed up her schoolwork and settled down to talk with us for half an hour before saying goodnight and heading upstairs.

"Interesting," Carlisle remarked, "she simply dismisses distinctions which we've seen people fight and die over."

"Let's hope she's the wave of the future," Jasper commented.

"Can I ask you something?" Jacob seemed to be speaking mostly to Carlisle.

"You just did." Carlisle chuckled when Jacob rolled his eyes at the bad joke. "I assume you mean, can you ask something personal or potentially offensive."

"Pretty much."

"Yes, anything you like; with the understanding that any of us may refuse to answer without the refusal itself causing offence."

Jacob shrugged. "Naturally. Well, about the way people are classified. Nessie doesn't consider any of those categories important, but most people do. Especially some in particular, like race."

Carlisle nodded. "And?"

"I was just wondering. Has it ever been an issue for any of you that I'm, you know, the only Indian among the palefaces?" He looked uncomfortable.

"You don't get much paler faces than ours," Edward commented, and Emmett snorted in amusement. "No, of course not."

I shook my head. "Does it matter to _you_?" I asked Jacob.

"No, not to me. The wolf and vampire thing made that seem small by comparison, anyway."

"I'm kind of amazed you'd even have to ask. After all these years, did you still think it might make a difference to us?"

"Not to you, maybe, but...well, here's the 'potentially offensive' part. Some of you guys come from a different time. Like, Jasper fought for the South in the Civil War. That kind of implies something about racial attitudes, if you know what I mean."

Jasper took a deep breath. Edward quickly put in, "Jasper's about to explain why that assumption is flawed, based on the many subtleties of society in antebellum America. Maybe he could, just for now, sum it up in ten words or less, and enlighten Jacob more completely at another time."

Jasper gave him a wry grin, and turned to Jacob. "That's an oversimplification."

"_Way_ less than ten words," Emmett said approvingly.

"Two points, if I may," Jasper continued. "First: some of us do come from times when race was considered an important classification, perhaps _the_ most important. However, we are all capable of adapting our thinking to changes in social structure - in fact, we have had to adapt to far more drastic changes than racial integration - and also capable of being influenced by simple common sense. Categorizing humans by something as arbitrary as skin tone never made sense to begin with.  
>"Second: as you implied, essential differences, such as between werewolf and vampire, tend to crowd out petty distinctions like racial classification. It becomes irrelevant. The fact that you are a Quileute and a shapeshifter has held some importance for us, and I'm always aware of it; but it has been many years since I thought about you as a Native American, to be honest. Not to dismiss your attachment to your own culture, but it is irrelevant to the rest of us, in the way you mean. It is about as significant to us as which baseball team you support."<p>

"As long as you're not a Dodgers fan," Emmett stipulated.

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Very well,_ less_ significant than which team you support."

Jacob looked around the room. The others seemed to agree. "Okay. One other question?"

"As many as you like," Carlisle told him.

"What about the religion category? Nessie doesn't seem to have one, but she told me..." He looked at Carlisle. "She told me you still go to church Sunday mornings, sometimes. She said you're kind of into that stuff."

Carlisle laughed. "_That stuff_ was a significant part of my human life. My father was a clergyman. I still have an attachment to aspects of it, and yes, I sometimes attend services at the Episcopal church after my Saturday night shift ends."

Jacob frowned slightly. "It seems kind of..." He hesitated.

"You want to say, it seems strange for a vampire to have a spiritual life?" Carlisle smiled at his uneasy shrug. "It seems a little strange to me, sometimes. At one time, I thought my...condition permanently separated me from anything sacred or good. I no longer feel that way. I have no idea where I stand in God's eyes, but I do believe that hope is a virtue."

Jacob nodded, and his eyes darted across the room at the others. Carlisle understood the unspoken question. "Everyone in this family holds the beliefs that make sense to them. It is a very personal thing."

"So you don't insist on their sticking with your particular brand? Episcopalian, or whatever?"

"Not at all. I have no authority to demand that, or even request it, and would not even if I could. I lived through enough religious intolerance of every description to know better. Besides, I make no claim to enlightenment. I do what seems right to me and gives me comfort."

"The one thing we have in common, in that area, is an agreement on the morality of hunting humans," Edward explained.

"Good to know. I thought you might have a problem with my, uh, religious background."

"What is your background?" Carlisle asked him.

"I don't really have any. My mom was baptized in some Protestant church because their minister kept badgering my grandparents, but she never went to church after that. Dad's parents were Lutherans, but he didn't have anything to do with it after he was 13 or 14. Mom thought religion was the white man's way of controlling us and destroying our culture. She got into native spirituality for a while, when I was a kid, but I never thought it made much more sense than any other version."

"I can understand your mother's perspective. A great deal of harm, often deliberate harm, has been done ostensibly in the name of religion. So you have no beliefs of your own? No belief in God?"

Jacob looked around the room uneasily, but we were used to Carlisle's appreciation for in depth conversation on serious subjects, and listened calmly. "I don't know. I'm not sure I even want to know, to tell the truth. I just hope for the best."

Carlisle smiled. "That is Bella's position, at present. She describes herself as a hopeful agnostic."

"It's the churches that put me off, really," Jacob said, becoming more relaxed as he realized no Inquisition would be forthcoming. "All those gatekeepers."

Carlisle raised his eyebrows. "Gatekeepers?"

"Yeah. You know, the clergy. It seems like they ruin the whole thing for everybody. Well, for most people."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, to me, clergy are just like receptionists at some big, fancy office. You know, you go in the front door and say, 'I want to talk to the manager,' and the guy at the front desk looks at you like you just ran over his cat and goes, 'And _you are_...?" Carlisle started to chuckle. "And you say, 'Never mind who I am, let me talk to your boss!' and he says, 'Do you have an appointment?' We all began to laugh at Jacob's Haughty Receptionist voice. "So you keep telling him, 'The manager knows me! He'd want to see me!' but the desk jockey just says, 'I'm_ so_ sorry, I can get you in six weeks from next Tuesday. Be sure to bring three pieces of identification, and kindly come in twenty-four hours in advance so I can brief you on correct procedure,' and you yell 'Forget the whole thing! Just forget it!' and walk out of the damn office and never go back."

Although we were all laughing, Carlisle not least, Jacob suddenly looked uneasy. "No offence meant. I forgot your dad was one of those."

Carlisle waved the concern away. "You have summed up what must be the experience of many."

Jacob sat back. 'I don't know how I ended up going into all that. I haven't talked about religious stuff since I was, maybe, six years old."

"We talk about _everything_ around here," Emmett said. "Even stuff most people have the sense to ignore."

Jacob grinned. "I see that. Oh!" He seemed to remember something. He glanced at the ceiling, and added in a low voice, "Is she asleep?"

Edward nodded. "Sound asleep. Why?"

"Part of this, she's not supposed to hear. I had news. Seth wrote to ask permission to leave the pack."

Edward frowned. "Why? Is he having trouble with the other members?" His face relaxed into a smile as he heard the answer in Jacob's thoughts.

"No, it's not that." Jacob grinned suddenly. "Seth's imprinted."

"What!" I sat up straight, catching Edward's eye. He looked delighted. "When?"

"Last month. He came back from college in December and saw her the first day."

"Not another two year old, I hope?"

Jake laughed. "Nope. She's eighteen, single, no impediments at all. Well, she's a freshman in college, so there might not be a wedding any time soon, that's all." He turned to me. "I think you know her, Bella. Hannah George. Her mother married off-reserve, but she used to come visit in the summer. You were there a few times when she was around."

"I think I remember, but she was just a little girl then. She had a tiny scar over her eyebrow, right?"

"That's her. She came to see some relatives over the Christmas holidays, and Seth was cooked before he knew what was happening. Sue knows, and she's okay with it. She says Hannah's a nice girl."

"That's right," I said. "Charlie wrote that Seth hadn't been home much since graduation, and Sue thought he had a girlfriend."

"He sure does. He'd been trying to find work anywhere in the northwest, but now he's narrowing it down to anywhere within driving distance of Hannah's college. It limits his options a little, but that's part of the imprinting package."

Edward nodded sympathetically. "Does this Hannah accept his attentions, or has she even decided?"

"She seems to like him. I don't know if she even has much choice. You know how it works." I sobered at the thought of Hannah, who believed she had a choice in this matter but possibly didn't.

"Where is she going to college?" Alice asked.

"Seattle. She's taking nursing."

"Wait," Emmett said. "Why does this mean he has to leave the pack?"

"He wants to stop phasing so he'll start to age normally. If he starts now, she'll catch up with him in a few years. Then they can get older together."

The Mickey Mouse March sounded from a table in the corner. Carlisle went to take the call.

"Seattle. At least he won't be too far from home," Edward said. "I'll send him an email. Would it be appropriate to congratulate him, do you think?"

"Sure."

Carlisle closed his cell phone. "That was Tanya again. They've just heard from their new acquaintances. They're boarding a flight from London to Halifax in three hours, and proceeding to the Denalis' location from there."

There was a flurry of excitement in the room. Jacob looked at us, puzzled. "Who's this?"

"Some news you haven't heard yet," Alice told him. "It looks like there are more of us coming." We filled him in on everything relating to our mysterious golden-eyed musician and his even more mysterious mate.

"Wow," Jacob commented. "You palefaces are overrunning the place!"

Carlisle left for his shift at the hospital, and Jacob went back to his house for the night a little while later. Conversation began to lag; this was the time of the night when couples usually began to drift away to their rooms. By common agreement, nobody ever commented on their departure, even Emmett; otherwise every night would be an endless string of embarrassing honeymoon jokes.

Carlisle and Esme were separated by the hospital night shift, but then, they had the house to themselves when the rest of us were at school.

Edward caught my eye, and we rose and started for our room, now a nice fusion of his taste and mine, the pretty white bed the one item we unreservedly agreed on. Edward had once found the onset of the night sad, but he'd told me his views on that had been revised since our marriage. Days had their joys and their challenges, but nights were always perfect.

I realized how incredibly lucky I was. From things I'd read on the covers of popular magazines, maintaining interest and 'zest' in the marriage bed was an ongoing challenge for human couples. Not so for us. Bonded mates never tired of each other, physically or otherwise. From a human perspective, our sex life would probably seem dull and monotonous, since we had never introduced any of those variations recommended to improve things in the boudoir, but we never felt the slightest need for novelty. I felt secure about speaking for Edward, at least on this subject. I no longer had any doubts about Edward's feelings: he was not merely content with our private time, he was enraptured. We felt the same way we'd felt on that first night in our honeymoon cottage: passionate, urgent, madly in love, overpowered with pleasure, and every time we were together it was as wonderful and perfect as the first.

The only serious challenge we faced, since the days when we were newlyweds and parents of an infant at the same time, was finding a way to balance our love life with everything else that was important to us: our daughter, our family, and more recently our studies. That was sometimes difficult, but we managed; and every night, after Nessie was asleep and our responsibilities could be set aside for a while, we had our own time once again. It was like getting the best reward of your life, every single day. Knowing that Edward felt the same way made me happier than I could describe.


	6. Guests

Few students at Longfellow Academy had a larger group of family and friends present for their music recital, and none had a better looking one.

While sitting through the performances of Nessie's fellow music students, we'd managed to catch a glimpse of our girl when the stage door was opened briefly. While most of the other young people waiting to go onstage were visibly nervous, Nessie looked perfectly at ease, watching the stage with a slight smile. She looked lovely in the flowing sage green dress chosen for her by committee. Alice had offered to take her shopping for her recital outfit, but I asked to go along, just to make sure Alice didn't take this as her cue to turn my baby into a _femme fatale_. Rosalie and Esme both thought it would be fun to join us, and we ended up cruising the stores as a swarm.

After lengthy consultation and a great deal of trying on, we ended up with a dress Nessie had chosen herself, which was a point in its favour, as I saw it. Rosalie had done Nessie's hair simply, in a twist decorated with a cloisonne clip shaped like an oak leaf. She looked beautiful, but much too calm for a girl facing her first public performance. I would have been a nervous wreck; but that was not Nessie.

Carlisle and Esme, in the role of Nessie's parents, drove Nessie to the school; the rest of us trooped in shortly afterward, twenty minutes early and armed with a suitable array of cameras and video equipment, and claimed seats in the second row, the first row having been commandeered by the few families even more obsessive than we were. Jacob had found and worn an enamel Loch Ness Monster pin on his shirt, his version of wearing the team colours.

We sat through over an hour of lesser performers before Elizabeth Platte was introduced and took the stage. Obviously I'm biased, but she seemed so much more poised than any of the other students, it was amazing to think she was less than half their age. She announced her selection calmly, and sat down at the piano without hurrying. She played _Jeux D'eau_ perfectly, according to Edward and Rosalie, who were in a position to know. It sounded great to me, and she certainly looked adorable playing it.

Before her second selection, she stood and announced, "My final piece is dedicated to my...Uncle Evan, the person who taught me, more than anyone else, how to really enjoy music." I grinned at Edward, who sat beaming and squeezing my hand with all his might. "The composer is Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe." I heard Edward suppress a laugh as she gave the name, which I didn't recognize. Nessie then sat down slowly, carefully adjusted the seat, placed her fingers delicately on the keys, and launched into a fast, raucous rendition of Wolverine Blues. She threw herself into it, bouncing on the piano bench occasionally as the song picked up speed. When she concluded and the very warm applause began - supplemented by Jake's and Emmett's inappropriate yells and whoops - she slowly rose from the piano bench, turned to the audience, and sank into a graceful, old-fashioned curtsey before walking off the stage. Edward's eyes met mine, the amazed thought _we made that!_ passing between us as it often did.

We waited to hug and praise her after the recital, met some of her classmates and spoke to her music teacher. I wondered if Edward had as much trouble as I did, holding back from identifying myself as her real parent; but I could not really resent Carlisle and Esme being congratulated on their daughter's talent.

Nessie took some time to compare notes with the other students and give and receive congratulations and comments on the performances. When the auditorium began to clear out, we finally left and headed home to Alice's modest post-recital party: just some flowers and balloons, a tiny cake for Jacob and Nessie to share, and a gift from the family of a CD of Nessie's performances, secretly recorded over several months and finished off with a liner hand-painted by Esme.

We topped off the party with a run in the snow. It was cold but clear, with a nearly full moon overhead. Nessie's and Jacob's breath came out in visible gusts as they ran and laughed. We threw snowballs at each other and just ran and jumped from sheer exuberance. Nessie and I finished by falling backwards into an expanse of fresh snow and making angels.

We went back to the house, brushing the snow from our clothes and hair. Carlisle picked up his cell phone, which he'd left behind to attend the school concert, and found a message had been left in our absence. He listened, and a moment later turned to the rest of us. "This must have come in just after we left for the school. Tanya says they're coming to see us."

There was a silence. We all knew who 'they' were. By now, Nessie had been informed as well. The visitors from London had arrived at the Denalis' home weeks ago, and had been spending time with the family since, although refusing to actually move into their house. The couple stayed somewhere on their own and would drop by to talk with Tanya's family periodically.

"When?" Jasper asked.

"They left this afternoon. If they ran here directly, it could be at any time. Alice?"

She shook her head. "I can't see. Jacob's too close."

"Not important. We know they're on their way."

There was nothing to do but wait. After clearing away the party things, we settled down to our usual evening activities. Jake stayed at the house, both curious to see the newcomers and anxious to remain close to Nessie when anything unusual was taking place.

Almost an hour later, we heard someone softly call 'Hello' from a distance. We all went outside and looked in the direction of the voice. A lone figure stood near the edge of the property, possibly to avoid seeming threatening - someone living as a virtual nomad would have learned to be cautious about things like that. We caught his scent, vampire essence in a mixture suggesting pine and oranges and something like rosemary. Carlisle raised his hand in greeting and answered, "Hello!"

The figure straightened up, returning the wave more vigorously. "Good day!" the man said. He had such a broad Scottish accent, it almost sounded like parody. "I should say, good evening. May I approach?"

We automatically shifted, unobtrusively placing Nessie behind all of us, Emmett and Jasper near the front, Jacob at Nessie's side. Just in case. Carlisle spread his hands. "Certainly. Come ahead."

The stranger first leapt half the distance, then ran the remaining space, arriving two seconds later. He paused to look us over, then removed a battered wool cap and bowed. "William Owen Fraser at your service, ladies and gentlemen."

By vampire standards, William Owen Fraser was not an impressive sight. He was shorter than any of the Cullen men - about Rosalie's height - and thin. Like all vampires, he was attractive and his features regular; but something slightly eccentric about his face made me suspect he'd been homely as a human. His eyes were honey-gold. His collar-length brown hair was windblown, his boots wet with snow and starting to separate at the seams. His clothes seemed less uncivilized than those of the usual nomad, more like the clothing of a storybook gypsy wanderer than a homeless thug. He wore old corduroy trousers, a woollen jacket, and a long knitted scarf. He had a shabby canvas pack slung over one shoulder, and a relatively new nylon violin case over the other.

I could see Edward's face relax into a half smile. Whatever this William's thoughts, Edward didn't find them alarming. Jasper, also, had taken a less alert stance. Neither of them read a threat in this person.

"You're very welcome," Carlisle told him. "Tanya told us to expect you."

William smiled, appearing at once delighted and ready to laugh at any moment. "It's very good of you to let us come. Your friends in Quebec told us all about you, and we have been looking forward to making your acquaintance." I noted the _us_ and _we_, but saw no sign of another vampire.

"We have been looking forward to meeting you, as well," Carlisle said. "I'm Carlisle, this is Esme." He touched her arm. "Emmett and Rosalie, Jasper and Alice," he gestured to each of them, making clear which were couples as he did so, "Renesmee, and this is Jacob." William beamed at all of us, although he gave Jacob a quizzical once-over. Surprisingly, he showed no reaction to the sight of Jasper, whose battle scars normally made vampires instinctively uneasy. "Your companion could not accompany you?" Carlisle asked.

"I fear not." William said, a little apologetically. "I hope she will be able to meet you in the near future, but she preferred I act as advance guard in this case. She is, you see, a wee bit afraid of vampires."

This came as a surprise. Jacob snorted in amusement. "That must make it awkward for her."

Several of us gave Jake a stern look, but William laughed, not offended in the least. "She is no longer afraid of _me_, happily. Nor of herself, if that is what you were implying. She is wary of all others, however. She did meet with your associates to the north, but only after I had first become familiar with them." At that moment we became aware of a scent, faint and distant, of something like lavender and green tea, but with that indescribable something that identified it as a vampire. William noticed our reaction. "Yes," he said quietly, "she is nearby."

Carlisle hesitated. "Would you like to come inside?" I could see his dilemma: he wanted to invite William into the house, but it seemed rude to leave his mate standing alone outside, even if that was what she wanted.

"Yes, thank you." William turned to look over his left shoulder a moment, where his strangely cautious partner was apparently keeping a safe distance, and followed us through the front door.

In the large, open living area, Carlisle set the example by sitting, human style, and William found a place on an ottoman. We all sat down, Jacob taking a seat in a far corner, as usual, with Nessie beside him, watching William in fascination. William looked around with undisguised curiosity. "This is remarkable," he said. "Just like the other group in the north. Such a civilized way to live. Such a contrast to hiding in trees and on rooftops and all such rubbish."

"You have been a nomad for some time, then?" Esme asked.

"I have, yes." He stopped gawking and looked at Esme. "Ever since my...unfortunate accident. The closest we have come to a permanent residence was taking to an abandoned building for a bit of a time. Oh, but we also spent a sunny day or two on the roof of Hampton Court Palace, and once found our way inside and explored there for a night. The staff came to suspect ghosts!" He laughed at that, and his laughter was incredibly infectious. We all found ourselves grinning. "Yes, we were taken to be the uneasy shades of Henry VIII and one or another of his poor wives. We talked of doing a tour of all the places thought to be haunted, and spending a few days in each, stirring up new rumours among the locals. It would encourage tourism, do y'know, so we would be performing a useful service."

I was enjoying our new visitor so far. He was almost as jolly as Emmett.

"Now, Tanya and her coven - her _family_, I should say - in speaking of themselves and how they came about, also told me a bit about _you._ Amazing stories, each one piling new wonders on top of old. From the man who preached right conduct to the Volturi and went on to become a _physician_, of all things - to the pair who learned of your ways in visions and followed those visions to your doorstep, a fascinating story! - to the girl who chose this life willingly for love, a tale fit for a fifty stanza romantic ballade - to the half human guarded by a friendly werewolf. What a nearly impossible thing your entire household is!" He laughed, shaking his head in amazement. "I confess, I was curious. I long to hear more about it all."

Again, we could not help but laugh with him. "We look forward to discussing that in as much detail as you like," Carlisle said. "Unfortunately, we have heard very little about _you_. May we know some of your history?"

"Aha! _My_ history! Well now, that will be simple enough. Shall we start at the beginning, and move forward, in the time-honoured fashion?"

Carlisle laughed. "That would do nicely."

William struck a lecturer's pose. "I was born, as I have been informed by people with no motive to lie about the matter, in the first few years of the nineteenth century. 1802 seems to tally best, and somewhere in the month of March. This was in a remote village in the western part of Scotland. The closest town of any significance was Dunoon, which I am sure cosmopolitans such as yourselves are familiar with." We were all smiling now, even Jacob, enjoying William's account as much as he seemed to enjoy providing it. "I was a person of no significance, not even within my own family, as I was too small and uncoordinated to be of much use at work, and had no talent except the ability to wring a recognizable tune out of a fiddle, which was appreciated at a wedding or a ceilidh, but not much otherwise." He patted the violin case at his side almost affectionately.

"It was your lovely music that Eleazar mentioned first, when he told us about your meeting," Esme said.

"Ah, well, my playing has improved a bit since my early years," William said happily. "Speaking of which," he nodded toward the grand piano at the far end of the room, "does anybody play that behemoth, or is it there merely for show?"

"Several of us play," Rosalie told him, "but Edward and Nessie are the best."

William turned to Edward, who sat near him. "Perhaps you would consider making music as a joint effort, at some point? It is a good while since I played with a second instrument."

"I'd like that. I don't often get the chance for a duet, either," Edward told him.

"Grand!" William looked, if possible, even happier. "Well, to skip ahead a bit, somewhere in the early thirties of the same century, I had an encounter with a certain individual. I was on the road, returning home from a trip to the next village, on foot, along with a neighbour of mine, a man named Duncan. I am still unsure of what, precisely, took place, although I pieced it together in retrospect. The individual seemed to fly at us from nowhere, taking hold of me first, and biting me just here." He placed his hand on the side of his neck. William's jovial manner had gradually diminished as he told this part of the story. "We were walking a path along the side of a crag at the time, and Duncan, being startled, fell and cut his arm, which started to bleed. The unknown person looked up at that point, cast me aside and went to Duncan instead. I can only assume, with the benefit of information I gained later, that Duncan's scent was considerably superior to mine.  
>"When our thirsty stranger threw me aside to take Duncan, I fell into a sort of chasm, and slid down and down into a close fissure, many yards under the face of the rock. I was battered to pieces by the time I came to a stop. I must suppose this person decided, after finishing with Duncan, that it was not worth the trouble of climbing through narrow tunnels to get to me as well. Or possibly something disturbed him. I could not say.<br>"I was unable to move at first, from the injuries I took on during my fall. My neck may have been broken. I lay there in my little rocky niche, in...some considerable discomfort, for a few hours or a few days, I could not be sure. Nobody came by, or if they did, they could not hear me from the pathway, though I made a great deal of noise." He saw me look uncomfortably at Nessie, gave me a little smile and moved on. "Well, the rest of _that_ part of the account might be set aside for a dark and stormy night."

Jasper had seen, or felt, my concern about Nessie. Catching William's eye and looking significantly at Nessie, and apparently getting the message across, Jasper led the conversation in other directions for the time being. They covered details of William's village and family. It was already late, and when Nessie's eyelids began to droop, we urged her to go to bed.

"I don't want to miss anything!" she protested.

"William will still be here tomorrow. Or so I assume?" Edward looked at our guest.

"I would be happy to spend some time here, if that is agreeable to all." He said a polite goodnight to Nessie. "I hope we may speak again tomorrow."

She smiled at him, said goodnight to the rest of us, and walked upstairs.


	7. History

We continued to talk quietly about William's encounter with the Denali's and his decision to accept their invitation to travel here. Finally, Edward said, "She's asleep," and limits on the conversation were removed.

"The second thing our cousins noticed was your eye colour, of course," Jasper told William. "We were intrigued to find more like us. Can I ask how you came to choose this way of life?"

"You may indeed. It was a slow, wandering process. It took me some time to work out what had happened to me. It was 1830 or thereabouts, and we were enlightened people, past believing in ghouls, so the obvious explanation was rejected at first. It was only after I met with others of our kind that I came to understand. But that first day, when the burning stopped and I found myself curiously able to climb out of the chasm without the slightest difficulty, I had no idea what had become of me. I thought I must have been injured in the fall, yet I felt stronger, not weaker. The burning in my throat troubled me. My first thought was to continue on my way home, and I started down the road. I never reached my village. On the way there, I encountered some stranger." He became solemn. "I did not realize I had killed a human being until after it had happened. I do not recall forming the intention, or conceiving the idea that I wanted this person's blood. In my mind, it was more like a living mythology: my burning thirst suddenly happened upon the one perfect thing that would quench it. It felt like some beautiful act of fate; and the drinking itself was sublime. Then, when I had finished, I looked down at the ground in front of me and realized I had murdered a woman."

The family sat silently, probably remembering their own histories and sympathizing. I was the luckiest of all of them: I'd been protected from that horrible moment, by my family and also, for some reason that still wasn't clear, by my own abnormal self-control. Hearing William's story made me feel a surge of gratitude.

"Although I still did not know what I was or why I was acting in this way, I understood that I was dangerous. I turned away from my home, terrified of killing my parents, my friends, one of my children. I began to plot, and decided to take the least travelled roads, avoid other people, until I could make sense of this thing, and cure it. I stayed clear of others for three days; then I caught the scent of a man out digging trenches in his field. I ran to him and took him before I had time to think.  
>"So it went for many months. I travelled north, to the least populated areas, and avoided humans for weeks or months at a time. My thirst grew, and eventually a human would come within my range, and I would feed again.<br>"I hated and feared myself terribly. I tried to end my life. Eleazar tells me you did the same," he said to Carlisle.

Carlisle bent his head. "It was a terrifying moment, when I realized I could not die."

"Yes, for me as well. After trying every way to die I could conceive of, twice or thrice over, I tried still harder to avoid humans. I once lasted fourteen months without feeding. At that point, my thirst was so great it simply overcame my will. My body travelled of its own accord, it seemed, found humans in an isolated place, and fed. I came to myself later to find I had slaughtered an old couple.  
>"I was more hopeless than any man that ever hanged himself, yet without the means to bring my hideous life to an end. I felt...no, I need not describe to <em>you<em> how I felt."

"No," Jasper said quietly, "there is no need." I knew he could feel not only William's emotions, but those of everyone in the room. I didn't envy him the experience.

William sighed. "I have killed twenty-eight people in all. I can only pray for clemency, and thank God it was no more.  
>"After nearly three years of this existence, a new idea came to me, by the most ridiculous means. Sheep ticks."<p>

Alice frowned. "Excuse me?"

William smiled. "The sheep tick is a wee insect that drinks the blood of the sheep. One day, as I was walking through pastureland, trying to teach myself to ignore the scent of humans, I saw sheep being sheared in the distance, and the animals' keepers talking about the infestation of ticks the sheep were experiencing. I do not have to tell you what that suggested to me. It gave me hope.  
>"Because sheep first brought me the idea, I began by using sheep as my prey. Not a very generous reward for their inspiration, but the sheep paid me back for it. I do not know if any of you have ever fed on a sheep..." He scrunched up his face and shuddered in an exaggerated show of disgust, and we laughed. "I performed the same experiment with other beasts, and found that some were quite tolerable. Time passed, and I discovered I was able to control my thirst without harming a human being. Once again, you understand what this meant to me."<p>

"We do," said Carlisle, "and I am sure you can understand how gratifying it is to meet another person who has arrived at this conclusion."

William nodded. "There has been no one else, other than Mila, to share this with. It is...a very happy occasion."

"That is an unusual name, Mila," Esme said tentatively, trying to find out more without asking directly.

"Short for Timila, a Sanskrit name."

"She is from India?"

"Her parents were. Mila was born in London." He saw we looked curious. "Born in 1958, bitten in 1980. I found her a few years later. But I should allow her to relate her own history." He gave us a grin. "She will, eventually. She is outside listening, as I am sure you realize."

"May I ask - did you ever return to your home village?"

"I did, years later. I wished to be sure my children were safe, and they were. They had a stepfather by that time; I was thought to be dead, you understand. He seemed a decent enough sort, and had a bit of money as well. He sent the children to school and all. I thought of staying nearby so I could watch them grow up, but it was too painful to see them and be only a ghost to my little ones. I could not speak nor show myself to them, so I ceased to look in on them once I knew they were well cared for. I suppose I have grandchildren and great grandchildren by now, but I know nothing of them.  
>"Their mother was much better off with her new husband, so there was nothing to reproach myself with there. We were married off by our families, who saw the chance to put our lands together into one parcel. There was no great affection on either side, which, in light of later events, was a mercy."<p>

Jasper seemed to hesitate before asking, "When you made your decision, about feeding only on animals - was that final? Has there been a lapse since that time? I only ask," he added quickly, "because some of us, including myself, have had difficulty in making the adjustment."

"Thankfully, I have managed to avoid lapses, although there have been a few close calls. I have kept my final number at twenty-seven, and I hope with all my heart it remains there."

"Sorry, but didn't you say you had killed twenty-_eight_ people in all?" I asked.

"Yes, that I did. Twenty-seven I fed on, and one I killed when still human."

"Oh!"

"Yes, I was a revolutionary hero, d'you know." He seemed to be mocking himself. "My father and my older brother, Danny, were great supporters of Scottish independence. They went to meetings, and engaged in arguments, and read pamphlets. I had no interest in the matter, nor do I to this day, so it came as a surprise to find that the two of them had signed up for some manner of seditious battle intended to take place in Glasgow a few months later. It came as a greater surprise to find they had also enlisted _me_. I was eighteen, and without any experience at fighting. I had no great fervour for any political goal, and no stomach for battle, and it was these two great failings my father hoped to rectify by bringing me along on their wee excursion.  
>"I protested the plan, but my father urged me strongly to take this opportunity to, as he expressed it, give him some evidence he had begotten a son rather than a daughter. Well, in the face of such touching paternal affection, how could I refuse? Danny began training me right away on the use of the broadsword, giving me an already outdated weapon which I could barely lift, let alone use to any effect.<br>"Less than four months later, we were called to battle."

"Was this a battle of any significance? Would it be in the history books?" Jasper asked.

"I fancy not. I believe it would not even be called a battle, if so; it was more along the lines of a civilian riot. The cavalry were called in to deal with it. Mind you, the cavalry was armed with guns as well as metal. Some of our side had guns also, but many of us from the countryside had brought pikes and swords. A few had only slingshots and a pocket full of rocks. The people planning this dog's breakfast were political visionaries, and would like nothing better, I believe, than to have us fight the English with nothing but sharpened sticks. I suppose they felt that, win or lose, it would make a grand story.  
>"So off I went to prove my manhood, Danny and my father beside me, and me looking like runt of the litter. I had the sword I had been given hung from an old leather belt, and no shield of any kind, and most of the men around me armed only with pikes. Long pointed sticks against firearms. I thought I could not possibly be the only man who thought it mad, but it appeared I was. A Scotsman is never so determined as when he is doing something absurd." He sighed at the memory.<p>

"But you survived, and killed at least one soldier," Emmett pointed out.

"Yes, that I did. It was a very brief battle. The cavalry rode in, firing over our heads the first time, in warning, then aiming directly into the crowd. After that, there was no particular order to the event. Men were shot and dropped where they stood. Those on horseback were speared with pikes. My father's side was clearly taking the worst of it, and I fully expected to be killed at any instant.  
>"When I found myself in the open, separated from the crowd, a rider came charging toward me, firing. His shot missed me by no more than an inch."<p>

He paused a moment, and Edward tilted his head, frowning, as if trying to hear a passing thought.

William resumed a moment later. "Not quick enough to turn so I could reach him with that great, burdensome weight of a broadsword, I grabbed at his coat and managed to pull him from the saddle. He seemed just a boy, no more than my own age. He staggered to his feet and quickly pointed his rifle, but before he could shoot again, I slashed at him with the sword. I had no idea what I was doing, merely hacked away in the direction of his rifle arm, but I struck home at least twice. He dropped his weapon, and blood began to stain his sleeve, pouring down his arm and dripping from his hand. It was no great wound, but it had hit a large vessel it would seem, and the blood loss took him before he could act.  
>"I remember it in every detail," William said thoughtfully. "First he clutched at his arm, then moved as if to take up his gun; then he seemed to become confused about what he should be doing; then his legs gave way and he fell to his knees. Then, I suppose, the loss of blood took his clarity of mind. He began to call for his mother like the boy he was, and weep; then he slumped to one side and died."<p>

William's voice took on a tinge of bitterness. "I was a hero to my family and my village afterward, and it was partly on the strength of my actions in the revolt that my family was able to negotiate my marriage to a woman who owned land. They were all pleased, you see, that I had finally reflected well on my relations.  
>"Do you know, of all the people I have killed, that is the one that plagues my conscience most. The other murders were more horrifying, because they were more monstrous and unnatural, but they were almost involuntary. Perhaps you think it strange, but it is a sharper regret that I once salved my father's pride by pointlessly hacking to death that poor lad."<p>

There was a short silence, before Jasper quietly agreed with him. "I was a soldier, of one kind or another, for many years. I've never been able to forget the first man I killed. So many came after him, but it still weighs on my mind." He looked over at Edward. "You should be grateful you never got your wish, to fight in the Great War. You might have that much more of a burden to carry."

"We come back to the same thing," William said. "What a blessing it is to leave murderous acts behind us."

"That is the thread that holds this family together," Carlisle agreed.

"And the reason I made this long journey to meet all of you." William turned to look out the dark window, then back to us. "I should go. Perhaps I might accept your invitation to come again tomorrow?"

"Please do," Carlisle told him.

We accompanied him to the door, calling out goodbyes and repeating our wish to talk with him more the next day.

Jake remained in his chair in the corner, looking thoughtful. As Jasper crossed the room, he asked, "You were talking about being a soldier in the Civil War, right?"

"That, and the years I fought in the vampire wars in the south."

"So how many people _did_ you kill, altogether?"

"That depends," Jasper said shortly.

"Depends on what?"

"On what you count as people."


	8. Further Developments

William returned the next morning as soon as there was activity on the ground floor of the house. I was with Nessie, standing near a window, and we watched as William appeared, stood some distance from the house and apparently considered standing and calling to us from there. Then, as if struck with a surprising new idea, he proceeded to the front door and rang the bell. Nessie ran to answer it.

"Hi, William."

"Hello, lass. Well, knocking at a friend's door is an experience I've not had for a many a long year. It is a welcome one, to be sure." He saw Nessie sorting through some paperwork. "Perhaps you are busy at the moment."

"No, Nessie's just getting ready for school," I told him.

"Indeed! So you attend a real school, among the human children."

"Yes, only they're not _children_. It's high school."

"Of course. My apologies."

Nessie slipped her hand into mine a moment, showing me William from her perspective. She found him funny and unusual, and liked the way he talked. She felt at ease around him.

Edward entered the room, greeted William warmly, and after some pleasantries suggested trying their hand at music. He sat down at the piano and took out a wide selection of sheet music for William to choose from. William opened his violin case and took out the instrument with great care, tuned it, lovingly rosined his bow, and turned to examine the choices Edward had set out.

"Let us start gradually, shall we?" William suggested. "I have not played with another musician for a century and a half or so." He started by playing snatches of folk tunes, on which Edward accompanied him; then Edward played bits of simple piano music and William followed him.

"I believe we are ready to make the leap," William said at last. "What about this?" He offered the music to Le Cygne, and they played it through. Even to my untrained ear, William's playing was wonderful, perfectly accurate yet filled with his own personality.

The rest of the family applauded from various points around the house. Edward looked quite energized by the experience. "Why not let Nessie take a turn?" he suggested. "She has to leave before long."

Nessie sat down at the piano, and they performed a duet. Then William asked Nessie to play something simple, anything she chose, so he could practice impromptu accompaniment. She played a waltz, and after listening for a few bars, William joined her, ornamenting the piece perfectly. They received more applause from the family, who had begun to gather closer, and Jacob, who had stopped in to say goodbye to Nessie.

"Oh, this is nice! The music sounds so much better this way than with the piano alone."

She prepared to start playing another piece, but I stopped her. "Nessie, we have to go." I turned to William. "Sorry, but she has to get to school."

"Yeah, Nessie," Jacob said, "if you delay any more, your mom'll have to exceed the speed limit to get you there on time." He grinned at me. Yes, I'd finally acquired the Cullen taste for fast driving, although I tried not to indulge it when Nessie was in the car.

Nessie said goodbye, grabbed her books and her mostly-for-show lunch, threw on an entirely-for-show winter coat, and skipped out the back door toward the cars. We took my 'everyday' car, an Aston Martin Cygnet that Edward had bought me. I had actually requested it by name, and even expressed a strong preference for a particular custom colour, all of which made him giddy with happiness. He liked the fact that it was an Aston Martin and various aspects of its engine construction that were of no interest to me, but he found the price - merely very expensive rather than insanely extravagant - and lack of racing potential a concession on his part. I liked the fact that it didn't stand out like a tiara at a bowling alley, and the pale celadon green paint, but the cherry on top was the fact that its name means Swan.

We headed down the long gravel drive leading off the Cullen property and onto a dirt road. "That William's nice," Nessie commented. "And he's a really good musician."

"I thought so."

"But why doesn't his wife come in and visit too?"

"He says she's nervous of us."

Nessie didn't reply. She lowered the window on her side of the car and leaned out slightly. "I think that's her." She was pointing, unexpectedly, more or less _upwards_. "Stop the car a minute, Momma."

"What's going on?" I pulled over. She started to get out of the car, but I stopped her. "Nessie! Where are you going?"

"William's wife. She's up there!" She pointed again, and this time I could smell her before I saw her. She was standing on the branch of a spruce tree, some eighty feet up, mostly hidden by the trunk. "I want to invite her to come see us. Maybe she wouldn't be so nervous if I talked to her a little before she came to the house." She was on her way before I could speak again.

I got out of the car and watched her, debating whether to stop her and bring her back. It didn't seem like a bad idea, and none of us liked having a visitor stand around in the snow by herself. Even if she chose to be there, it felt inhospitable. Nessie was certainly the one to approach her, too: almost everybody, human, werewolf and vampire, liked Nessie on first sight. However, this Mila's behaviour was eccentric enough to worry me a little. I stood near the car, ready to run toward Nessie at the first sign of trouble.

I saw my girl stop a few feet from the tree and look up. Mila was still mostly invisible to me; I could see a hand on the trunk, and a bit of her dark hair. She wasn't either fleeing or leaping down to attack; so far, so good.

"Hi!" Nessie called up to her. "I'm Renesmee, from the big house over there. I was playing piano with William."

"Yes, I could hear you," came a low, musical voice. Well, she didn't _sound_ crazy.

"I hope you'll come and visit soon. We're all getting along with William, and we want to meet you. We won't make you talk if you're shy. Really, my family's very good about that kind of thing."

There was a pause. "All right. Maybe later today."

"Good." I could see Nessie smiling up at her. "I have to go, or I'll be late for school. It was nice meeting you."

"Mila," the voice supplied, although Nessie hadn't asked.

"Nice meeting you, Mila."

"Yes, er, nice meeting you too."

Nessie raced back to the car, grinning, and jumped in the front seat. "That went pretty smoothly," I commented as I drove off. I was just starting to consider what Edward would think about my letting Nessie approach a strange vampire alone.

"Yeah!" She smiled harder. "I hope she does come to the house now. We'll have to tell everybody not to ask her questions right away."

"She didn't seem terribly shy with you."

"No. Maybe she just doesn't like large groups. Could you see her from here?"

"No, she was behind the tree."

"She's really pretty. She has worn out clothes, though, like William. Do you think they'd let us give them new ones?"

"I'm sure Aunt Alice is already looking for an opportunity to do that."

She laughed. "Why didn't you want me to hear what William was talking about last night?"

I sighed. She didn't miss much. "He was going to talk about when he was first changed. For someone like him, without a family or even one friend to help, that time can be very bad."

Her expression became serious. "Did he hunt people?"

"At first, yes. He couldn't help it. Eventually he figured out how not to."

"So he figured it out on his own. Like Grandpa Carlisle."

"Yes."

She stared out the windshield a few minutes. "I remember, when I was a baby, I used to think all vampires were like our family. Then I found out we were really unusual. Grandpa's kind of like..." She put her hand on my arm, showing me a complicated series of images and corresponding emotions. The overall picture was of Carlisle as a visionary, a moral forerunner, one of the world's great reformers whose ideas were ahead of his time.

"Yes, I sometimes think of him that way, but I don't think that's how he sees himself."

"No." She grinned. "It's kind of strange. I don't hold it against William that he hunted human beings, even if I think it's a terrible thing, the _worst_ thing. I even like some of our vampire friends, like Kachiri and Alistair, when I know they hunt humans, and don't even try to stop. I can like _them_, even when there are parts of them that are exactly what I hate the most. Does that seem weird?"

"I think that's what Grandpa Carlisle would call loving the sinner while hating the sin."

She nodded slowly. "He's said that to me before. I mostly applied it to little things, like people doing something annoying. It's a much bigger idea when you're talking about murder." I was surprised at her use of the word _murder_. We usually used the morally neutral term, hunting. She was frowning at the dashboard. "That's one of the things Grandpa's better at. Nobody hates killing humans more than Grandpa Carlisle, but he never, ever says anyone else is evil or bad for doing it. At the most, he says they haven't found the right way yet, and even then he only says it to the family in private."

I thought of answering, but I realized this was mostly internal dialogue spoken out loud, and I was just a handy sounding board.

"Most of the kids at school can't make the distinction. Somebody does a bad thing, he's bad. Somebody does a good thing, he's good. It's a lot more complicated than that." I nodded, in case she felt the need for a response. "And if someone's bad, they figure you no longer have to be good to _him_. Grandpa would probably say you have to be that much better to a bad person. He talked to me about it once..." She seemed to be thinking about a conversation with Carlisle, and fell silent for a moment. She resumed a minute later. "Another time, he heard somebody on TV talking about beating up some people that were causing trouble, saying 'we have to fight fire with fire.' Grandpa said you _don't_ fight fire with fire; you fight fire with water."

"What was it he told you about? If you don't mind my asking."

"Oh, it was because I got mad at somebody at school. It was just like what he said about fire; he told me when you encounter a rockslide, the least helpful thing you can do is throw rocks at it." She giggled at that. "He said other people doing wrong isn't my cue to do more wrong; I have to be even better, to balance things out. Something like that. And he talked to me about keeping my temper. Well, no; he talked about how he manages to keep _his_ temper. I don't think he ever gets really mad, but that's how he always talks. You know: 'When_ I_ do this wrong' or '_We_ sometimes make that kind of mistake', when he's probably never done the wrong thing himself."

"I've noticed. I like your grandpa's way of looking at things."

"I do too, but he's unusual. He loves everybody, almost like Grandma Esme. He even loves people he hates."

"He what?"

"Well, not hates, but people he knows are pretty rotten. Nobody's bad enough for Grandpa to see them as _just_ bad."

"No, I see what you mean."

"If someone tried to hurt Grandma, or any of us, he'd try to stop them. He might fight them, or even kill them, but he wouldn't hate them. Nothing they do could _make_ him hate them. Even if they killed him, he'd die without putting more hate in the world."

She fell silent, and a few minutes later we arrived at her school. I pulled in to the parking lot and parked. "Have a good day." I gave her an especially warm hug, and she returned it with interest. Unlike most teenagers, she had no reluctance to show her parents affection, even where others might see.

"Bye, Momma." She grabbed her backpack and ran for the door just as the five minute warning bell sounded. This being an expensive school, the bell wasn't the loud, jangling variety, but a series of musical chimes, but the message was the same. I watched her until she disappeared inside the building, planning to show this conversation to Edward in my thoughts later that night. As far as ethical issues went, our daughter's emotional development seemed to be progressing very nicely.

When I turned onto the long private drive leading home, on a whim I stopped the car close to the place where Nessie had got out earlier. I caught Mila's scent easily, and walked toward her slowly, at human speed, to avoid making her uneasy. She'd moved to a tall hemlock a little closer to the house. I paused a few feet away and looked up. "Hi there."

After a moment, I heard her answer, "Hello."

"Is there anything I can get you?" I felt a little stupid asking. She was living in a tree. What was I going to bring her, pillow mints?

"No, thank you."

That seemed to be about it. I nodded and prepared to make my farewells, when she leaned over to take a better look at me. Nessie was right: she was very pretty. "You're Bella, aren't you? The girl who was here earlier, she's the...she's your daughter?"

"Um, yes. How did you know?"

"I could hear all of you speaking at the house. I recognized your voice." She had the expected English accent. Not like Carlisle's Restoration era dialect, but something that reminded me of the kids from the Harry Potter movies. "You must think I'm completely mad."

"No," I said, realizing I sounded a little tentative. "Well, honestly, I haven't had the chance to form an opinion so far."

She laughed a little at that. "Fair enough."

Not wanting to be pushy, I started to back away. "Well, I didn't mean to disturb you. You know you're welcome at our house any time you want to join us."

"Would now be all right?"

"Now? Of course. You mean, come back to the house right now?"

"Yes. I think I've been rude long enough. May I walk back with you?"

She dropped lightly from the branch onto the ground below. She was medium-tall with a beautiful figure; her hair was thicker than mine, but wavy and black, hanging loose down her back, a little untidy. Her beauty was of the classical Hellenic type, with large features and strong angles, yet she looked sweet more than imposing. Her skin, apparently dark during her human life, had become pale cream rather than chalky white. She wore jeans and a bulky fleece jacket which was unbuttoned to show a black Pink Floyd tee shirt underneath. All her garments were ragged and - probably due to her recent arboreal activities - stained with pine sap. She carried a small knapsack, and on her feet were what appeared to be workmen's safety boots.

One thing I'd noticed right away. Her eyes were golden. That answered the question no one had wanted to ask William directly.

I suggested we take the car the rest of the way up the drive, since I had to bring it to the garage anyway. Mila got in the passenger seat slowly, looking the car over. "It's been a long time since I've ridden in a car," she said. "It's a lovely car. I like the colour."

"Thank you. It was a present from my husband."

"Oh. That would be Edward, right?" She looked at the house ahead. "He's home right now, your husband?" She amended, "Everybody's home?"

"Yes, everyone except Nessie." I wondered why she looked so worried about Edward being there. I pulled into the expanded garage and parked. I could hear William and Edward finishing a Massenet piece and proceeding into the score from Amelie. "Still playing. They'll probably be at it all morning, if it's up to Edward. He doesn't usually get a chance to play with other musicians."

"No, neither does William," she said, but seemed distracted. She was looking at the front door nervously. "The werewolf's here as well, is he?"

I laughed, and she looked at me. "Sorry, it's just that we don't think of him as 'the werewolf'."

She raised her eyebrows. "What _do_ you think of him as?"

"Jacob."

I opened the door and walked in ahead of her, thinking it might make her less uncomfortable. The family must have heard us coming, but they were not waiting near the doorway to greet her. They were scattered around the room, reading or talking. I assumed it was to avoid putting pressure on their reluctant new guest. The Cullens were considerate hosts.

Edward was at the piano and William standing beside it with his violin. They played the final few notes of their music, then William lowered his violin and looked toward the doorway. "There you are, my lass," he said softly. A smile slowly spread across his face.

Mila smiled in response, almost as if she couldn't help it, and her already lovely face became dazzling. Her eyes met William's and for just a second there was no one else in the room but the two of them. I looked around for no particular reason, just to avoid staring at them. Then William set his instrument down, walked to her and took her hand. "My friends," he said, facing the room, "may I present Timila Sengupta. Mila, the Cullen family."


	9. Mila

Things became more comfortable as the morning wore on. At first, the Cullens just greeted Mila from where they sat, and let her talk with William and with me, since she and I had already established contact. Gradually, they started joining in the conversation, and William started including others. Mila was not, as we'd begun to suspect, pathologically shy. She did seem to have some concerns about us, but what they might be, we had no idea.

She was curious, as William had been, about our situation, and asked us questions to fill out the information they'd had from Tanya's family. She was fascinated that so many of us had chosen to live 'right' and the effects it seemed to have on our family's bond. She gave a few curious glances toward the kitchen, where Jacob was enjoying his second breakfast, present and within earshot but on the periphery, as he often was.

After we'd finished laughing at Emmett's version of his own transformation, newborn phase, and whirlwind courtship with Rosalie, Mila said, "Your arrangement with the werewolves, that's something especially amazing. And you have one practically living with you! Is that really safe? Is he, well, tame?"

Jacob set down his fork with an annoyed clatter. "Lady, I'm standing right here!"

Mila looked at him, startled. "I beg your pardon! I...it's such an unfamiliar situation, I hardly know how to approach it. The conventional response would be to run and hide, and as you know, I've already gone that route. I didn't mean to offend you."

Jacob gave her a grimace that might have served as a smile. "'S'okay. But enough with the _tame_ stuff, all right? I'm not their pet rabbit."

"I _am_ sorry about that."

He shrugged. "And I'm not a werewolf, technically. I don't mind being called that, but just to be clear."

"You're not?" She looked around at us.

Carlisle briefly explained the distinction: Jacob's people were unrelated to the better-known European werewolves who had terrorized so many. The wolf similarity was coincidental, and Jacob changed form at will, not according to phases of the moon. Carlisle also mentioned the service the pack had done for us during our meeting with the Volturi.

William nodded. "We heard something of that event from your friends in Quebec."

"So they're not..." Mila caught herself and turned to Jacob. "So you're not a danger to us? You came to some kind of agreement or truce, is that right?"

"Sort of." Jake left the kitchen and moved closer, still keeping his distance. The mutually offensive scent thing was harder on our guests, who weren't used to it. "We have an agreement, but only with the Cullens. It's still open season on everybody else." He narrowed his eyes menacingly at Mila.

"Jake, don't be an idiot," I told him. "He's kidding," I said to Mila.

"Partly. We kill vampires when it becomes necessary. Our job, in the first place, was to protect human beings from them. But we only fight the red-eyed kind, and even then, we don't go and hunt them down, just stand up to them if they're a threat. Like we did with the Volturi."

Mila looked a little nervous at the mention of the Volturi, and surprised me by glancing uneasily at Edward. William looked at her and pressed her hand, seeming to give her some silent reassurance, and she sighed and turned her attention back to the conversation.

"So you live here with this coven, this _family_ rather, because of something to do with the agreement? As a...bodyguard?"

Jacob snorted and looked at Carlisle, who answered for him. "It's not an official arrangement of any kind; merely something we all find congenial. Jacob has formed a personal attachment to some of us. He stays with us as a member of the family."

Mila exchanged a look with William. "Fancy that."

Several of us laughed. "It's a unique situation, I realize," Carlisle said.

"And the others? There were many of them, when you met with the Volturi, correct?" William asked Jake.

"Sure. They're still back home at LaPush. I'm in touch with them on a regular basis."

"Jacob is pack leader," Edward explained. "He's left someone else in charge, but stays involved."

Jacob looked at his watch. "I've got to get to the shop. Nice meeting you," he said to Mila. "See you later," he called to the rest of us as he ran out the back door.

"Amazing," William said.

"Forgive me for asking, but don't you find it hard to deal with the smell?" Mila asked.

We laughed. "That's one reason Jake has his own house," I told her. "But he does spend a lot of time here."

"Our scent is just as offensive to him," Esme said, "but we're all accustomed to it by now."

"I see."

"But Mila, we haven't had much chance to get to know you. William was good enough to tell us his history. Could we hear a little about yours?"

She looked slightly taken aback, but agreed. "Oh, of course. Let me see." Her tone became businesslike. "Noteworthy dates: born January 2, 1958, London, England, youngest of three children, to Kalyan and Durga Sengupta, formerly of Brahmapur, a suburb of Kolkata. Dad was a solicitor, and Mum was a housewife, although making sure we got good grades and behaved ourselves, so we'd be accepted by the Brits - the key to future success - was a full time job in itself." She spoke in a half-sarcastic way, and I gathered there was some ambivalence in her attitude to her parents. "I was good in school, and managed to convince my father to let me attend university."

"Why did you have to convince him?" I asked.

She paused. "Well...my parents were trying to walk a fine line between being traditional Hindus and being part of modern-day British society. They'd both lived before the end of the Raj, and they always felt pulled in two directions, a bit. They wanted both at the same time. Their upbringing told them to put all their resources toward their one son's education, but they hated to be seen as backward as far as the education of girls went. My sister had no interest in higher learning, so it was an easier choice. Only two children's tuition to pay, instead of three. Of course, we both lived at home and worked in the summer to help cover costs."

"What did you study?" Carlisle asked her.

"What you would call pre-law. I was following in my father's footsteps, which made him a great deal happier about sending me. My brother insisted on reading Classics, which my parents were not so sure about. It had some prestige, but would probably lead him into an underpaid schoolmaster's position. My sister, meanwhile, was married off to an anesthesiologist, so _she_ was considered to have done well.  
>"I was accepted by the University of Nottingham for my postgraduate work, and hoped to become a barrister. My father was sufficiently impressed to provide money for both tuition and lodging, because I would have to live away from home at that point. I had a wonderful time, and not only studying. At the time, I wanted to break all ties with my background. I was a bit embarrassed by my very foreign parents, their sing-songy accent and funny cooking and all - you know how young second-generation people often are. I cut myself loose from all that by the usual means; drinking too much, going to rowdy parties, things like that. Never enough to interfere with my studies, though. I was very optimistic about my future, which involved making my family proud by having a brilliant career, while at the same time having very little to do with their lifestyle."<p>

She blinked at us. "I'm sorry, I seem to have gone off on a tangent."

Esme smiled at her. "Not at all. This is all part of your history."

"Yes, I suppose it is. So. Next significant date: November, 1980, I acquired a stalker." She looked down at the carpet, and kept her eyes there as she continued. "I would see him watching from time to time, as I went to and from my classes or my room. He stopped me a few times when I was on my way to a lecture, or more often at night, when I was going out to meet friends. He would greet me and ask me a few questions. Only when I was alone. The questions were not suspicious; he seemed to be doing no more than chatting me up, but he was a bit too...intense. He made me uneasy, but I was always in a busy place, and help within call at all times, so I didn't bother about it. I trusted my brain more than my instincts." She smiled ruefully.

"February, 1981. I wasn't sure what had happened until much later. One night, I was on my way to the pub to meet some friends. I crossed a street and went through a rather dark patch between buildings. Nobody was in sight. Then...I didn't understand what was going on, but I felt something take hold of me, and rushing wind, and seconds later I found myself in a different place. I felt something on my arm," she touched the place just below the inner elbow, "and a moment later it began burning. The burning grew hotter and hotter, and just as I started to scream, I felt another sudden pain on my neck. It began to burn, too. And after that, I didn't know what was happening for...for a long time, I don't know how long."

She looked at us, seeming to ask if she should continue; we waited quietly. She looked at William, took a firmer hold on his hand, and went on.

"It was the stalker, of course. I don't know why he'd chosen me, but once the burning was done, he tried to explain what had happened. It was a long time before I understood that he'd been the one responsible for the burning. He let me believe I'd been injured by someone else, and he'd found me and taken me in. It was only after I met others that I realized he'd done it himself, and deliberately.  
>"He said he wanted me to stay with him, as his companion, his 'mate' as he put it. He said that was why he'd stayed with me when he found me on the street that night. Ironic," she laughed, "my parents had an arranged marriage, and I always thought how glad I was not to be involved with that sort of thing; yet here I was, being chosen without my consent as partner to a total stranger.<br>"My first instinct was to run away, which I did. My second instinct, unfortunately..." Her face tightened. "It was a city, there were people everywhere. I got to three of them. Later on, I found my name was included in a list of unexplained disappearances of university students taking place within the same week. None of them were ever found. My parents must have been beside themselves. Well, all of their parents were, I imagine.  
>"As I said, I got to three students...is this making sense? I'm afraid I'm not telling it coherently."<p>

"It makes perfect sense, dear," Esme told her.

She looked at William. "I've never told anyone else about it, other than you. It feels a bit odd." She turned back to us. "After those three, _he_ caught up with me. I was horrified by what had happened - by what I had done. He gave me the impression he could help me stay under control, to not harm anyone again, so I stayed with him. As it turned out, he'd only meant to help me control myself enough to stay unnoticed. I think he hoped if I stayed with him long enough, I'd get used to him, become attached to him. I never did, though. I was disgusted by the entire thing.  
>"He kept hinting that I needed to know more, to be taught more, in order to live safely. I asked him how to stop feeding on people, and he said it was impossible. The most I could do, he said, was to do it inconspicuously. When I became...upset, he offered to help me feed less often. That seemed to be the most I could hope for. I decided to put an end to myself." She smiled humourlessly. "It seems to be a running theme for us, right?<br>"I tried as many ways as I could think of, and of course none worked. Then I recalled that he had once warned me to be cautious of fire in certain circumstances. I decided to try to dismember myself in such a way as to fall immediately afterward into fire. A complicated plan, ridiculously so, and of course it would never have worked. However, before I could attempt it, _he_ showed up, just as I had the fire going well, in a ditch in an isolated area miles from Nottingham."

She seemed to draw into herself still more. She concluded briefly. "He tried to stop me, and there was a fight. I was new, so I was very strong. He was the one who went into the fire instead of me." She pressed a little closer to William. "I was alone from that time until William found me, almost eight years later." She looked at him. "Next significant date: January, 1989."

William smiled at her. "I came across her on the cliffs of the north coast of Wales. I had caught her scent from a distance, and decided to pass by, and possibly have a word. I did not encounter many of our kind, especially so far north. Mila was standing on the cliff's edge, looking down into the water. She did not even notice my approach until I was some ten fathoms off...about twenty yards, I should say."

She smiled a little. "Twenty meters, you _should_ say."

"Very well." He conceded with a little bow of the head. "When I spoke, she almost dashed off."

"He offered to leave, or stay and keep his distance. He said he had not spoken to a soul in months, and just wanted to greet me. I told him I had not spoken to another person in _years_. I knew almost nothing about...what I had become, and I was terrified there might be even worse things one of them could do to me. Eventually I let William come closer and speak with me. He figured out what I was doing on the cliffs."

"What were you doing?" Emmett asked.

"Trying to think out a way to die. He told me it wouldn't work, he had tried everything. Then he asked me why I was trying to kill myself. It seemed like a silly question. I said, 'Why did _you_ try?' He told me, because he could not stop killing people, and I said my reason was the same.  
>"Then he told me, 'I never found a way to die; but I <em>did<em> find a way to stop murdering.' I thought he was making fun of me at first. I'd given up on that possibility. He told me, 'Drink from something else, some beast. That's what I do. I have not taken a human life in many years.' I was sure he was joking now. He had to take me out and show me, hunt an animal while I watched, before I would believe it was possible. When I understood, it was like..." She shook her head, at a loss for words.

"It was like that for a lot of us," Jasper said. "Like being released from a dungeon."

"Yes." Mila sighed at the memory. "It took me a long time to get used to feeding that way, but I was determined I would never go back, and I never did. William helped me in the early days, when I got...distracted. And he answered my questions about what we were, and how it came about that I was like this. I had a lot of questions," she laughed. "I was a complete mystery to myself until then.  
>"Oh, another significant date: September, 1990, one night when William pointed out my reflection in the window of an empty building near Manchester, and I saw that my eyes were no longer red."<p>

"We travelled together from then," William said, "giving credence to tales of haunted abbeys and the like." Mila laughed. "Having company made a difference; the passing time no longer seemed like a curse, but a genuine life. And we...developed an attachment at last, and that made the time a joy and a blessing. It was not something I ever looked for in this life, nor expected to have." He looked at Mila with an affection and wonder we could all understand perfectly, and her expression was identical to his.

"I actually began behaving like a person again," Mila said. "Doing little things I hadn't thought about in a long time, like reading books. Once my eyes had changed, I could be within sight of people. After I got better at being around humans, we'd go into a city and do human things. We would attend concerts - not inside the halls, I was not ready for that, but by listening from outside, or from the roof. We still had to steal the few material things we wanted. In order to stop doing that, William would play in the street from time to time. We would use the money if we needed clothes or anything else."

"Then the final significant date: the day when your friends, Tanya, Eleazar, Carmen, Kate and Garrett found me." William smiled at us. "That was a great day for us both."

"You had no idea there were any others who, well, kept kosher?" I asked.

Everyone laughed at my terminology. "No," Mila said, "neither of us had ever met any. We thought William might be the only one who ever came up with the idea. It was like..." She waved her hands in the air, trying to express her feelings. "...like a new world opening up for us, to find there were others. And so many others!  
>"I was nervous about coming here. It was a big step to go into a busy airport with humans, try to pass for human, be confined in an airplane full of them for hours; but there was no way we could refuse Tanya's invitation."<p>

"We weren't sure you were interested in coming, there was such a long delay," Rosalie said. "I should have realized that air travel would be a challenge, especially the first time."

"A novel experience for me," William said. "I'd never been so far off the ground before."

"We all hope you'll stay," Carlisle said, "for a very long time, at least. Even with our two large families, it's always a great pleasure to encounter others who live as we do."

"Thank you," William said. "We spoke of this with Tanya's family. We would very much like to stay on this continent. It might take some time, however, to accustom ourselves to living in your more civilized manner."

"Time is one thing we have plenty of," Carlisle smiled at them.

The conversation seemed to fall into a natural lull, as if Mila and William felt the need for a break. Esme offered them a change and a rest by asking if they would like to see the rest of the house. As she led them upstairs, I whispered to Edward, "I'm thinking of ditching classes this afternoon."

"So am I," he whispered back.

Following the tour, our guests were offered the use of the bathrooms so they could take the first shower they'd had available to them in an extremely long while. Alice insisted on also offering them a change of clothes, and Esme managed to make the offer sound considerate rather than critical of their appearance. Alice and Rosalie took Mila aside once she was dressed and worked on her hair. Clean and freed of knots, it looked lovely without much additional work. They settled on merely pulling locks of hair back from her temples and securing them behind her head with a narrow silver ribbon.

During the hairdressing session, Esme took me aside and whispered, too low for even vampire hearing, that she was trying to figure out how to help our guests find lodgings. "I don't know if they'd be quite comfortable staying here, not right away at least, and I don't think they have any money to speak of. Where was Mila when you spoke to her outside?"

"Standing in a tree."

She pursed her lips. "You made friends with her first. Do you suppose you could try and sound her on the subject?"

"I'll try," I said a little doubtfully. I wasn't good at diplomacy.

The makeover team returned downstairs where Mila greeted William by exclaiming enthusiastically, "I'm _cle-e-an_!" Clearly, she was becoming more comfortable around us.

William and Edward started gearing up for more music, and when they began discussing how to arrange a Schubert quintet for two instruments I offered to take Mila on a tour of the property. We headed across Esme's snow-covered garden as experimental snatches of music started and stopped in the room behind us. We viewed the car collection, which impressed Mila considerably, and walked past Jacob's house.

"So the were..._Jacob_ lives here by himself?"

"That's right."

"You built him a house?"

"The guest house was already here, but Esme remodelled it for him."

"Nice of her."

"Yes, but Esme does that kind of thing for everyone in the family. She's a genius at anything to do with houses and decor. She even designed some of the places we've lived in." This seemed like a good time for a segue. "I don't know where you and William have been staying, but if you'd like any help with accommodations...well, Esme's anxious to help with that, but she didn't want to push too hard when we've only just met you. We don't want you to have to stay outside the whole time. We have room at the house." She seemed to withdraw a little, and I backtracked. "Or if you prefer, I'm sure the family could find you a place to stay. Just say the word. Seriously, just mention it to me, and I'll tell Esme. She'd be delighted. Trust me, nothing would make her happier, so don't hesitate, okay?"

She nodded. "Yes, I...let me talk it over with William, and we'll let you know."

"Sure." I quickly dropped the subject, seeing it was making her nervous. We started walking the perimeter of the Cullen property, slowly, even slow for humans. "This is the property line," I said, pointing. "From here on, it's state park. The hunting is good if you head north-east."

"Thanks." We kept walking, Mila looking up at the treetops. Picking a hotel room for the night, maybe. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Anything you like."

"Your friends from Canada told us about the encounter with the Volturi." She looked at me, but I wasn't sure what she wanted to hear. "Do you still maintain any contact with them?"

"With the_ Volturi_?" She nodded. "No! Why would we, after that? I hope we never have to see them again." Although it was probably too much to wish for.

She seemed a little relieved. "I heard Carlisle lived with them for years, and so did Eleazar. I thought there might be an ongoing connection."

"None. Carlisle lived with them in the eighteenth century. They were the closest thing to civilized people in the vampire world, and he was happy to have access to more information. Carlisle never gets tired of learning. But the way they fed was too much of an obstacle for him, and eventually he left. Eleazar...well, he probably told you his own story."

"Yes." She seemed thoughtful. "What about your husband. Does Edward communicate with the Volturi?"

That was an odd question. "No, not at all."

"Is he...Tanya says he has a gift; he can read thoughts."

"That's right." She fell silent again. I took a guess at what was bothering her. "He does his best not to pry. He can block thoughts reasonably well, and he can only hear what someone is thinking of at that moment."

"He's not like the Volturi leader, then - Aro?"

"No. Aro can read every memory, but only while touching the person. Edward doesn't have to make physical contact, but only hears the current conscious thought."

We walked several minutes in silence, Mila frowning in concentration. She finally looked up at me. "I'm very frightened of the Volturi, I must admit. I've heard stories about them."

"They've done some good, apparently. They managed to keep our existence a secret whenever a breach was threatened. Jasper could give you some first-hand information on that, if you're interested. But they're dangerous at the best of times, and they seem to have become corrupted, to say the least. Our only wish is to avoid them completely for as long as possible."

"Good." She seemed to believe me, and to be relieved at what I told her. "The Volturi don't know I exist, you know. Or William either."

"Well, they won't find out about you from us, if that's what you're worried about."

"I was, actually." She smiled, and the conversation took a happier turn. I answered questions about the family's former homes, how we managed to live among humans without being detected, Carlisle's astonishing ability to work as a surgeon, Edward's and my wedding, some discreet inquiries about Nessie's conception and birth, and our day to day lives. She seemed fascinated and hopeful.

"Tanya told us you're attending college," she said at one point.

"That's right. For the second time." She seemed eager to hear more. "Some of the family have multiple degrees. It's a great opportunity, not to mention being students makes a good cover story. I met Edward when we were both students in the same high school. Except, of course, I was an actual student, and he was just posing as one."

She looked as if she wanted to ask me about that, but held back. "After I met William, I thought I'd got back as much of my life as I ever would. As I said, I began to read again, to listen to music. He taught me Gaelic, and I taught him Bengali. Hearing Bengali spoken with a Scottish accent is an experience not to be missed, by the way." She laughed, and I joined in. I was liking her more all the time. "But I never thought, for one second, that going back to college would ever be a possibility. You could hardly imagine what a revelation you and your family are to someone like me."

"No, you're right; I can't really imagine. I was extremely lucky, being prepared in advance for the change, and having Edward and a family already there for me. But I'm glad you found us."

She smiled, and finally asked me about meeting Edward, and how we ended up married; and she told me a little bit about her and William's courtship, which was a long and gradual one, and straight out of a gothic romance.

"After he found me, and I started trying to hunt animals, we fell into travelling together, without ever having discussed it. He'd been alone a long time, and had almost given up hope of ever finding a companion. He was unsure about forming a friendship with someone who hunted humans; and you know, human blood seems to make them - make _us_, I suppose I should say - less, er, sociable. As for me, I was afraid to even get close to another vampire. William, though, he seemed safe. More than safe. I owed him a great deal for helping me find a way to live without..."

"Without being a monster?"

"Exactly. It never occurred to me that I could fall in love with another...another one like me. I didn't know whether _that_ ever happened between them; I didn't even think about it. I spent months and months with William, talked with him about everything under the sun, and grew more and more attached to him. He was sweet and kind, and he was lovely to me, and I even recognized that he was beautiful, but never really thought about...you know." She looked away, a little shy for the moment.  
>"Then one day it hit me, all at once, like a house falling on me. I kept it to myself, of course. For some reason, I didn't think he could even think of me that way. He told me later that he was going through much the same thing. We travelled together, spent every moment in each other's company, all the while hiding from each other that we were in love.<br>"Finally, one day, he just...told me everything. He actually fell to his knees in front of me and made a declaration. He said it in such an old-fashioned way, I didn't really take it in for a moment. He said he was mine, my _creature_, as he put it, and begged me to give him hope I could feel some affection for him. That was how he spoke; very old style and formal. I thought he was joking with me at first. When I realized he was serious, I fell on my knees as well, and held on to him; I thought I'd never be able to let go. I was so happy. I'd thought I could never be that happy again." She seemed a little embarrassed at sharing this personal story.

I smiled at her. "When Edward first asked me to marry him, I thought he was joking, too. He's a hundred years older than I am, in actual years, and sometimes there's a cultural divide."

"You really did get married? I mean, a ceremony and everything?"

"Oh, yes. Not my idea, actually, but it was important to Edward. It may have been the only wedding in history with three sentient species in attendance."

She laughed. "Once William takes in the fact that your family are actually married, he'll never rest until he sees us do the same. He was very reluctant at first to just, you know, live together. I was a modern woman, and thought nothing of it; but he wanted to make it official. We couldn't come up with a way to get married under the circumstances. Even the most lax minister would want to see some kind of identification papers. Finally it seemed as if there were only two options: cohabit, or live in complete celibacy forever, and, well..."

"I went through the same thing with Edward," I confessed. "He flatly refused to sleep with me until we were married. These nineteenth century types!" We sighed in unison.

By the time we returned to the house, we were both laughing.


	10. Difficult People

At 3:00, I left to pick up Nessie at school. I sat in the parking lot, reading, until I saw her emerge from the far building along with her friend and vampire wannabe Meghan and the unpleasant Brad Nixon. Brad seemed to be engaged in a lively but one-sided conversation with Nessie, who barely acknowledged him as the three walked toward the parking lot. Nessie stopped, turned to Brad, and said something to him, her face serious. He seemed to reply with a joke and a laugh. Nessie shook her head and began walking again. Brad followed; she stopped. Starting to pay attention, I put my book aside and cracked the car window to catch what was going on.

"I'm not walking with you, Brad." Nessie stood still, looking as if she was controlling her temper. Was Brad the student she'd been mad at, when Carlisle had given her advice on anger management?

"No, _I'm_ walking with _you_." Brad tried to push her along the path ahead of him, but she's not easy to push.

"You're not. I told you already."

I was impressed at how calm she was. Meghan looked fascinated by the little dispute.

"What's the big deal? You think you're too good to..." Before he could finish his sentence, Nessie walked away. "Hey!" She ignored him. Meghan looked from one to the other, riveted.

Brad caught up to Nessie and once again fell into step beside her. Again, Nessie stopped where she was. "Brad, you have to leave me alone. I'm not walking with you. I'm not putting up with all that stuff any more. Just stay away from me."

He rolled his eyes and gestured widely. "Some people can't take a frigging joke!' Nessie kept walking. "Fine! I'll quit it. You happy now?"

"No. It's too late for that. You promise to stop it, but you don't. You can't be trusted, so you can't walk with me any more! Period!"

They stood and glared at each other.

"So?" He seemed to finally catch on that she was serious.

"So, stop walking with me! Take another direction."

"No, this is the direction I want. _You_ take another direction." He was every terminally irritating little pest I'd ever encountered in school.

"Okay." Nessie veered off slightly, only to be followed by Brad.

"No, now _this_ is the direction I want." Who didn't see that coming? He grinned at her.

Nessie, without responding to him, turned around and headed back to the school. Brad, after a moment, followed. Nessie and Meghan reached the building they'd just left. Nessie sat on the steps, and Meghan, clearly not vying for a leadership position, immediately followed suit. Nessie took a book out of her backpack, opened it, and started reading. Meghan sat, rocking slightly, awaiting further developments. Brad stood to one side, apparently taking stock of his situation.

"What, are you going to sit here all day?"

"No," Nessie said, not looking up. "Only until you leave."

"What if I don't leave?"

"You have to some time."

"Maybe I'll stay here all night!" He sat down on the step, clearly feeling he'd delivered the coup de grace.

"I doubt that." Nessie kept reading. "There are other people around, you know. My aunt's in the car over there." She waved a hand at my Cygnet. "Teachers are still in the building. Do you really think you can hold me hostage here forever?"

He looked deflated. "Why do you have to make such a big deal out of everything?"

"I don't make a big deal out of everything," she said, simple statement of fact, and went back to her book.

"Out of _this_ you do! You can't take a crappy joke once in a while..."

"Brad!" He stopped short, startled by her raised voice. "I've told you this several times, but I want you to actually listen this time."

Brad started his usual mugging, but she waited him out until he snapped, "Fine! I'm listening!"

"You were rude to me." He started to answer, but she cut him off. "I don't care if _you_ think you were. You were what _I_ call rude, and I told you and told you to stop, but you wouldn't. You don't take any of this seriously. I don't put up with that from my friends, so you're not my friend any more. Joking about it isn't going to change that. Nothing's going to change that. No matter how long I have to wait around, or how many teachers I have to get involved, I'm not walking with you or hanging around with you any more. You messed up. You have to find other friends, and this time try to be less of a jerk to them." She returned to her book.

Brad continued to make his own views known, first jokingly, then angrily, then, when Nessie continued to ignore him, sadly. I could see Nessie steeling herself to ignore him when he got sad, but she didn't respond. He sat in silence for two minutes or so, then got up and walked off.

So much for Brad, I thought. Poor little creep chose the wrong girl to mess with. Let's hope his people skills improve before he graduates.

Nessie and her new number one fan, Meghan, got up and walked to the car once Brad had made himself scarce. Meghan said goodbye to Nessie, gave me a polite wave, and went to the shelter where students waited for less punctual family members. Nessie slipped inside my car and gave me a quick hug. "Hi, Auntie."

"Hello there, young niece." I managed to get onto the road just ahead of a slow moving bus. "Interesting chat you were having."

"Did you hear?" I nodded. "I felt a little bit sorry for Brad, but I didn't know what else to do. He just won't take anything seriously unless you're mean to him."

"What was he doing that was rude?"

"Oh, just...I don't know what you'd call it. Nasty personal remarks. You saw him the last time, right? He kissed me and then pretended my butt was a fireplace." She laughed. "It sounds weird, put into words. But that kind of thing, or worse, _all_ the time."

"Then you did the right thing. He has to get the message, or he'll be doing the same stuff in ten years, and he'll become a complete social outcast. You've saved him from a hard life."

She laughed. "Good. Then it wasn't as mean as it felt."

"No! You shouldn't have to put up with that just because you feel sorry for someone." I was reminded of something, but just then became distracted by an ornament on Nessie's wrist. "Is that new?"

"This?" She held up her left arm. "Yeah, Jacob gave it to me. I had it in my backpack and remembered to put it on after I got to school."

I took a better look. It was a replica of the braided wristband Jacob had given Nessie for her first Christmas, except larger and slightly more elaborate. Something equivalent to a promise ring. Why did he make her another one just now? "Pretty," I commented.

"Yep." She watched the scenery. "Is William still at the house?"

"Yes, and not only that, but Mila finally came inside. We've been having a great time without you."

"I knew she'd come down from that tree eventually." She smiled and scrunched down into the car seat happily.

"So give today's highlights," I said, with one last glance at the bracelet. "Apart from the Brad debacle."

We came home to a full house. I stopped to greet Edward, and looked around at the group discussion taking place. William and Mila, dressed in Cullen donations, no longer looked like transients, and seemed more at ease here than ever. Sharing histories and information was still an ongoing process, and they were just receiving the tail end of Jasper's account as Nessie and I came home. Mila's eyes were wide after hearing about the newborn wars. That was understandable; they made the Normandy Invasion seem like a spat between rival manicurists.

"I can understand why you're ambivalent about the Volturi," Mila said. "They got an insane situation relatively under control and prevented our coming to the attention of the human population, and I suppose no one else could have done that. But you have to allow, they've become so corrupt and power-mad, they're now a danger themselves."

Jasper sighed. "I hate to accept it; they were heroes to me for so long. But the events at Forks make it clear. They're not to be trusted." His eyes went to Alice, the member of the family Aro wanted more than anyone else. She would be a primary target, and not only as a valuable acquisition. Alice was also our key defence against Aro: as long as we had Alice with us, there was no way the Volturi could sneak up on us. And as long as they had _me_, their preferred weapons were disarmed. That left only straightforward, planned physical attack. Although we had friends who would fight along with us, that was still a formidable threat. They had dangerous fighters in the Guard, and could easily obtain others. They would not even have to be gifted.

"Of course," Jasper went on, "the events at Forks have been spread around the world by now. Having friends with us from multiple continents ensured that. Faith in the Volturi was shaken, and that could have an effect on their decisions. They depend on people seeing them as protectors. It prevents insurrection almost as much as fear of the Guard. Aro will hesitate to do anything that will cause further bad publicity."

Mention of the showdown at Forks led to the subject of the Immortal Children, something Mila and William were not well informed about, and the family took a few minutes to fill them in. This led to further stories from William's past, and more in turn from Jasper's and then Carlisle's. We were gradually exchanging our shared histories. I got Nessie to start her homework, with the concession that she could work in the kitchen and listen to the general conversation at the same time. This was part of her education too, after all.

At about 6:00, Jacob arrived home, made a quick stop at his cottage, then came back to the main house. He greeted us all with a wave, doing nothing to interrupt the flow of conversation, and sat down opposite Nessie at the kitchen table. I could hear them talking, Jacob going over Nessie's homework with her. I tuned out their voices for a few minutes, as William told an interesting and surprising story about his visit to Loch Ness. My attention was regained as I realized Jacob was talking about Nessie's plans after graduation.

"So I was putting off college until you start in a couple of years. I was going to try and attend the same college as you."

"That would be great! I hope we can go to the same place."

"I wouldn't want to be away from you that long. I'd miss you too much."

"I'd miss you too, Jake."

"In fact, if we're going to the same college, maybe we could share a place."

"Live in the same place, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"I hadn't thought about that at all. Most students live in dorm rooms, right?"

"Sure, but a lot of them take apartments instead. It gives you a lot more privacy. Maybe we could do that."

"Maybe," she agreed, her attention back on her work.

I braced myself. Clearly, some things could not be set aside any longer. Jacob and I were going to have to have a talk.

The conversation with our guests continued until well into the night. Two hours after Nessie had gone to bed, the discussion finally started to lag. Couples were thinking about retiring to their private rooms for the night. William and Mila, by mutual accord, rose to leave.

"I hate to think of you staying outside the entire time," Esme said. "Please consider our suggestion." The family had offered to obtain a living space for the pair, for as long as they stayed in the area. There were cottages in the state park, typically used only in the summer, which could be rented at a day's notice this time of year. I understood why they'd proposed a simple cabin rather than a well-appointed house, as Esme might have preferred: a modest offer would be less likely to put them off at this point in our friendship.

"It's very kind of you. We'll talk it over tonight," William promised. He and Mila said their goodbyes, promising to return in the morning, and ran out the door, hand in hand.

"Are they staying in a tree tonight?" I asked quietly.

"I'm not sure," Esme laughed. "William said they found it a good way to stay out of sight back home, where the forests are so small and sparse."

I read another chapter, leaning back in Edward's arms as he read his own book. I was putting things off. A little while later, music could be heard faintly, from a distance. I lowered my book and listened.

"Is that William?" The others heard as well. He was singing a sweet, rather sad song with words I didn't recognize. "What language is that?"

"Gaelic," Carlisle said. "It's a very old song, a love song. I assume he's singing to Mila."

"I like them," Esme declared. "I'm so happy they decided to come, although it must have been frightening for them at first. Do you think they'll stay?"

"I would not be surprised," Carlisle told her. "It would be hard to find a better environment for them, in terms of support and comradeship."

"They're considering it seriously," Edward added. "But they have some concerns."

"Mila's worried about you," I told him. "She as good as said so, when we went on our walk."

"I picked up on that, but I'm not sure why."

"Something to do with the Volturi. She's afraid we'll tell the Volturi about her existence, and William's. She's terrified of them. But she did seem less worried once it was clear we didn't have ongoing contact with Aro. It was Carlisle and Eleazar having lived in Volterra that gave her the idea we'd report them."

"There's more to it, though." Edward frowned. "She's trying to block something. I think it's something she doesn't want shared with the Volturi."

"Maybe they'll tell us themselves, once they feel they can trust us," Esme suggested.

Carlisle said goodnight and left for his hospital shift. Rosalie and Emmett headed upstairs to their room.

"Shall we?" Edward murmured into my ear.

I wavered a moment, ready to put things off again, but stood firm. "No." He looked surprised, and justifiably so. "Not just yet," I amended. "There's something I need to take care of. Can you come with me?"

"Of course. Where?"

"Into the park a mile or so." I stood and headed for the back door. I wanted to be out of the family's hearing for this.

"The park?" He followed me, looking mystified. "Are we hunting?"

"I wasn't planning to." I lowered my voice to the faintest of whispers. "It's just that there's a discussion I need to have. I've been putting it off a very long time, and I can't put it off any more. And it's kind of rude to ask, but could you stay to one side and just be a witness? I think you should hear it but, well, at a distance. Do you mind?"

He shook his head. "Not at all, but a conversation with whom?"

"Jacob." I knocked firmly on his cottage door.


	11. Long Overdue

Jake opened the door almost immediately, and stood there with a half-eaten apple in his hand. "Hey. What's up?" He looked from me to Edward.

"Jake, I need to talk to you."

"Sure." He stepped aside to let me in.

"No, not here. Could you come into the park with me?"

He frowned. "Why?"

"Please, just humour me."

He shrugged, took one last huge bite from his apple and threw it away, and followed me out of the cottage and across the property. The three of us jumped the wire fence marking the border of the state park, and headed off into the woods. After travelling directly north-west for a time, Edward touched my arm and nodded. We were out of earshot of the house. I smiled at him, mouthed 'thanks' and continued a short distance. Jacob looked back in confusion when Edward stayed where he was and I kept walking. "What's going on?"

I stopped and turned to face him. "I wanted to be far enough away that the others couldn't hear."

"Okay, but what's Edward doing?"

"I thought he should hear, but he's staying out of the way. This is between you and me."

"But he has to hear it?"

"This concerns Nessie, so it seems only right."

"Is something wrong with Nessie?" He immediately became alert.

"No, she's perfectly fine." His concern made this talk a little harder. "It's about her future. Well, hers and yours."

"Okay." He waited. "Come _on_, Bells! We've got the Cone of Silence in place. What's happening?"

"Give me a second. This is hard to talk about. I know how you care about Nessie." He frowned at that. I took a largely unnecessary deep breath. "She's almost finished growing. In another year, she'll look like an adult."

"I know. She thinks like an adult, too."

"Well, not necessarily."

"You know she does! She's learned more in six years than most people do in twenty. She's the smartest..."

"I'm not arguing that. Intellectually, she's way beyond her actual age, I know that. But there's more to being an adult than that."

"What are we talking about here?"

"No matter how much she's learned, she's still been alive only six years. She's smart, and she knows a lot, but she's not...what's the word? Sophisticated, I guess. She has the information, but she's still a little bit innocent about how she puts it all together. For some things, there's no substitute for real-time experience. In many ways, she's an adult, but in a few ways she's still a child."

"Sure, that makes sense."

"That means she's too young to make certain important decisions."

"Like what?"

Another deep breath. It seemed to help. "Like joining the army, or buying a condominium, or, well, getting married."

"You think I'm planning an elopement, or what?"

"No. But I think you're starting to think ahead. You were talking about living in the same place once you go to college." He glowered a bit. "And you just got her a new..." I gestured with my fingers circling the opposite wrist, like a handcuff.

"That doesn't mean I'm scheming! The bracelet doesn't mean..."

"No, I understand that. I just think you're assuming a lot. It has to be Nessie's decision."

"Of course it's her decision! I'm not going to kidnap her!"

"That's not what I'm saying. You were talking a few days back, about what would happen if Nessie wasn't interested in getting married to you. You said you'd be able to bring her around."

"I was kidding! You _know_ I wouldn't try to push her if she wasn't ready."

"I do know that. You wouldn't force her or use coercion - but you _might_ try to manipulate her a little. Use what you know to push her in the direction you want. Play on her pity. Guilt trip her. Things like that."

"That's...I would _never_...!"

"Jake," I broke in, "I know for a fact you would, because you _did_."

"What? On Nessie?"

"On me!"

"Bella, that was a long time ago. I was just a kid!"

"You were younger, but I don't know if that means you're a completely different person now." One more deep breath. "I started going to see you when Edward was...away. I brought you that motorcycle to fix, and kept going to hang out. Nothing personal, but at the time it didn't have much to do with _you_. I had to do something; I was like a zombie, and scaring Charlie to death, and almost anything that used to make me feel better reminded me of Edward, so I didn't have a lot of options."

I could hear Edward sigh softly, and regretted having to put him through this.

"I went to LaPush because you were an old friend from when I was little, from before I knew Edward, so there weren't so many associations. And you were almost the only person who didn't mind that I was acting so strange. It was a relief, not having to pretend to feel normal all the time. Hanging out with you made me feel...not exactly _better_, but like I could manage. I could get through one day, and then another. I wasn't quite so scary, and Charlie didn't worry so much. That was good.  
>"But after a while, it seemed like you started thinking I was your girlfriend, or going to be. Like, you'd hold my hand when we were walking around, and I thought I should put a stop to that, so you didn't get the wrong idea; but when I mentioned it, you'd just say '<em>so I hold your hand, it doesn't mean anything, why are you making a big deal out of it?<em>' Or somebody at LaPush would call me your girlfriend, and if I objected, you'd give me this '_you're a girl and a friend, that makes you my girlfriend, what does the word matter?_'  
>"Sometimes I could see I was being unfair to you, but I was too scared to really deal with it the way I should have. I let it go on, because I was afraid I'd have to stop coming to see you, and I'd go back to being a zombie."<p>

He looked pained, and I knew how much it hurt Edward to hear it. "Bella, this stuff happened years ago, and none of it means anything any more."

"I think it does. Jake, I know you don't like hearing about this stuff, and Edward doesn't, and I _hate_ talking about that time. I don't even like thinking about it. But there's a reason I'm bringing all this crap up now."

"Fine!" He waved a hand to tell me to go on.

"Okay. After Edward came home, I ended up in the middle of the whole vampire/wolf feud. I should have stopped talking to you completely, and a lot of it's my fault. But there's this one thing that happened. It keeps popping into my mind the last little while, and I'm worried that I never really dealt with it, and it might affect things that are happening now."

"Could you be a little more vague?" Jacob's arms were crossed over his chest. He was acting irritated, but I think he was worried more than anything. Starting out by saying it concerned Nessie had set him on edge.

"I mean a time I went out to LaPush to see you." I tried to ignore the fact that Edward was hearing this, tried to set aside everything except the reason I had to drag this business out again. "You kissed me by force."

"_Force_ is kind of an exaggeration," he said, looking away. "I know you said later it felt like an assault, but..."

"That's what it felt like, and that's what it was."

"If you say so." He was still looking away from me angrily.

"Don't get all offended..."

"Well, what do you expect? Look, Bella, I said I was sorry, and you forgave me. I thought this was all in the past. What are you saying, you're still mad about it?"

"No, of course not."

"Then let's drop it."

"I _can't_ drop it, Jake. It's..."

"You dropped it for over six years, you can do it for six more. Easy, one day at a time."

"Jake, will you listen!"

"No, I don't think so. This can't go anywhere good. If you want me to say I'm sorry again, I will. Sorry! Can we get out of the woods and go back home where we belong?"

"Jake!" I hadn't realized I was going to shout quite so loudly, but it stopped him a second, so I tried to keep up the momentum. "You've got to listen to me. I've been trying to work up to this for weeks. You don't like hearing it, and I don't like saying it, but it's important."

"Because you need to protect Nessie from me. Yeah, I get it." He was offended again.

I decided to take a page from my latest role model. "Jake, you need to hear this, and you're _going_ to hear it. You can act all hurt, but that's not going to shut me up. If you stalk off and refuse to listen, I'll keep trying, if it takes a hundred years. I'll do whatever I have to do, to make sure you understand what I'm trying to tell you. If you won't listen, I'll...I'll keep you from seeing Nessie." The shock and horror that appeared on his face for just an instant filled me with guilt for making the ultimate threat, but I stood firm. "I don't want to put any of us through this, believe me, but I'm her mother, and what's good for her comes before anything else. So go ahead, keep putting me off a long as you want. I can wait."

We stood there and glared at each other a minute. "What is it that's so important? I don't understand what you're trying to tell me."

"Then let me explain. _Without_ being defensive. Please, Jake."

He nodded, moved back to demonstrate he wasn't going to make a run for it, and planted himself. "Go ahead, then. I'll listen."

Big, unnecessary breath. "After you...did that, I hit you. I know it didn't hurt you the slightest bit, but I hit as hard as I possibly could. I broke my hand doing it."

"I _said_ I was sorry you hurt yourself..." he began, then, "Never mind. Listening."

"Remember, I had no idea you wouldn't be hurt. As far as I knew, I was punching an ordinary sixteen year old boy in the face as hard as I possibly could. Hard enough to fracture bones. Does that sound like the kind of thing I went around doing?"

He frowned. "No."

"So can you believe I took it seriously? That I felt like I was being assaulted?"

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I see what you mean," he said cautiously.

"You were stronger than I was, and you used that against me. And after I'd worked so hard to defend you, and try to convince Edward I was safe with you.  
>"After that, you offered a nice, friendly ride back to my house - which I had to take, because I had no other way to get there - where you insisted on coming inside with me. Then, while I was calling Edward to come get me so I could receive medical attention for my fractured hand, you were in the living room convincing my father to treat the whole thing as a big joke. Which I have to give you credit for. Not every guy can grab a girl against her will, cause her to injure herself fighting him off, and get the girl's father on his side.<br>"I kept alternating between hoping Edward would lose his temper and hurt you really, really badly, and hoping and praying he _didn't_ because it might cause an all-out war which could result in the deaths of several people I was close to. All to the background music of you and Charlie chortling away over it."

He had the decency to look uncomfortable.

"You showed up at the graduation party, figuring you could just say 'sorry' and it would be all over, and of course it was. You gave me the guilt trip about ditching you for my '_real friends_' and I felt like a horrible person, and let it all slide. "I already felt guilty enough, so it didn't take a lot."

"Guilty for what?"

"Lots of things. Going back to LaPush to see you, even if it scared the hell out of Edward and caused the Cullens a lot of worry. They all felt responsible for me, yet couldn't protect me on wolf territory without breaking the treaty. It was an impossible situation I was putting them in, not to mention the danger. Also guilty because I was being unfair to you _and_ to Edward by continuing to see you instead of making things clear. I knew what you thought was going on, that you and Edward were rivals, but that was never the case."

"Why _did_ you keep seeing me? Considering how dangerous it was. Or aren't you sure?"

"I know exactly why, now. When Edward left, I was like somebody from a shipwreck, holding onto a plank to keep from drowning. Someone doing that for a long time, she might, once a ship comes to rescue her, even once she was safely aboard, still keep holding onto that strip of wood. It was all that kept her alive for so long, it would be hard to let it go, even after she was safe. It was kind of like that with you.  
>"And besides that - you meant something else to me. You stood for my human life, the one I was getting ready to say goodbye to. It wasn't as easy as I'd thought it would be. I guess I was holding onto that, too, and you stood for everything I thought I was giving up."<p>

He nodded. "Yeah. Looking back, that makes a lot more sense than...what I thought."

"But I loved you too, Jake. Just...not the same way."

"Sure, I know."

"But the point I was trying to make, about punching you, and all that. There was a big gap between what happened, from my perspective, and what was happening in your mind. A _huge_ gap."

"Like, I thought I'd stolen a kiss, you thought you'd been terrorized and humiliated? Yeah, that's kind of a disconnect," he said drily.

"But as long as you believed, in your own mind, that I was better off with you, or that I could be convinced to be with you - well, you figured anything was fair. Being cruel to Edward, showing him what I was like while he was gone. Using Charlie to get to me. Lying to me, manipulating my emotions, you figured it was all justified, and it wasn't."

"I know that now."

"You know that, because you understand how I really felt, that it was always Edward. But," I said carefully, "please understand the difference here, Jake - what if you'd been right? It still wouldn't be justified."

"How do you mean?"

"What if there was no Edward, ever?" I winced slightly at the thought. "If I really did want to be your girlfriend at first? I'm afraid you think, in that case, everything you did would've been okay. Which means doing any of that with...another girl would be okay."

It took a second, but he got it. "So this is where Nessie comes in?"

"Yes."

"But that's a completely different situation! For one thing, there's no other guy in the picture."

"You don't know if there will be, though."

That seemed to shock him. "Do you know something I don't?"

"No. That's the point. Neither of us knows what will happen. I know imprinting almost always results in the imprint-ee returning the imprint-er's feelings, but we have no idea how that works with a non-human. None at all."

"I guess not."

"She has to be given the chance to find out for herself, once she's ready. She can't end up with you - and she'd be with you for a very, very long time, let me remind you - because she feels guilty or obligated. You know her better than anyone; you know how to manipulate her if anyone does. That doesn't make it right. That's one reason we don't want her to know about imprinting, if possible, at least until after the fact. The pressure that would put on her..."

"No, I get it. She won't hear it from me." He sighed. "I'm still listening."

"Okay. I have to be blunt here."

"What have you been doing until now?" he laughed. "Never mind. Go ahead, be blunt."

"The main points. And I'm open to discussion now. I've got my message across, and we need to talk about what it means."

"Okay." He waited tensely.

"First, when it comes to, er, matters of the heart, I think we've established that you can be subject to some serious mixed signals. That's why I had to go through all that awful stuff about what happened at LaPush. You have to see that it's possible to have a total disconnect with what's really happening. Sure, I can accept that and forgive and forget when it comes to _me_; but I'm not willing to accept it when it comes to Nessie. That means when you think the time is right to make changes in your relationship, you need to assume your take on it might very well be wrong."

"I get what you mean, but assume it for how long? Forever?"

"Until it's obvious to people who know her. I'm asking you to take our perception of things, Edward's and mine, into account before acting."

He sighed. "Not something many guys would have to consider, honestly."

"This is an unusual situation."

"I hear _that_." We both laughed. That was a good sign. "Fine. I guess that's reasonable."

"Second, keep in mind that you have a history of emotional manipulation. You're good at it. It would be wrong to use it in this situation. It could hurt Nessie terribly, and hurt you in the long run. You have to be aware of the tendency."

He grimaced, but the possibility of hurting Nessie had had its effect. "Got it."

"The third point is what I started out by saying. Nessie's practically an adult in some ways, but still very young in others. If this is going to truly be her choice, she has to be mature enough to actually make that choice. Right now, you're her friend and her, I don't know, her mentor or guardian angel."

"Her _property_ is how _she_ thinks of him," Edward whispered from where he stood, too low for Jacob to hear.

I stifled a laugh. "I don't want you to make any changes in that relationship, even suggest changes, until we're sure she's mature enough to choose." He hesitated. "You have to admit, that's in her best interests."

"Yes, but...you understand how this works, right? Within the imprint?" He looked around. "Edward's still here?"

"Right where we left him."

"Maybe he should join the discussion. I assume he knows what I mean."

"If you want." I turned, but Edward was already at my side.

"Tell her," Jake said. "You know what I'm talking about. Nessie has to be the one to start things. You can see in my mind that it's the truth."

"Yes." Edward turned to me. "What Jacob means is, the imprint doesn't allow him to act against Nessie's best interests. As long as she is too young to see him as more than a friend, he cannot see her otherwise, either."

"Right. Sam started making a play for Emily right away, but she was a grown woman. Quil and Claire, that was different. He's still just her buddy, and will be until _she's_ old enough." Jake turned back to me. "But you already knew that, right? Edward told you before. Why else would you trust me with her for the last six years?"

"I know, Jake. We do trust you. The thing is, now it gets complicated. She's not like Claire. Claire will be grown up when she looks grown up. Nessie, she's going to look like a grown woman when she's seven. She'll be smart enough to be an adult, but it's what I started out saying: how much does actual life experience have to do with maturity? I honestly don't know."

Edward frowned. "I understand what you're saying, but if she were still too young for an adult relationship, she would not pursue one, and Jacob would continue in his role as friend until she _was_ ready."

"It might not be that simple. A twelve year old girl could have a crush on an older man, but in the normal course of things it would never develop into anything real. What happens when a person with the emotional maturity of a twelve year old lives in the body of an adult woman?"

Edward raised an eyebrow. "I see the problem."

"But..." Jake began. "Well, first of all, can you accept that I honestly don't want to change things between Nessie and me if it's not the best thing for her?"

"I can," Edward said. "I don't try to hear your thoughts on the subject, honestly; but I do hear the general tone of them, and it's very clear what you say is true."

They both looked at me, and I nodded. "That's good enough for me."

"In that case - Edward, wouldn't you have some idea where Nessie is as far as emotional maturity, or whatever? Couldn't you pick that up from _her_ thoughts?"

"Interesting you should mention that. Bella and I had a conversation recently about that very matter. I said that while she was very advanced intellectually, her attitude to the opposite sex was still at an early phase of development. I would roughly estimate that aspect to be at the level of a girl of twelve. Well," he amended, "a girl of twelve whose parents did not subscribe to cable."

"If her...her psychosexual development," Edward rolled his eyes. "...is that of a twelve year old, then it would be another six years before she's an adult, in the sense of being ready for, er, romantic attachments."

Jacob snorted. "How old do you have to be before you can talk about them without going to pieces?"

"That remains to be seen," I said. In my case, maybe never.

Edward was shaking his head. "I don't know, though. Her growth has been faster than human, in all areas. That includes social development. I would think it likely she will mature quickly in this area, as well. Six years is probably far too high an estimate."

"But we don't know for sure."

"There's _one_ way to know for sure," Jacob said, looking pointedly at Edward.

Edward's expression was pained. "I'm sure you can understand that I'd prefer to block out any romantic thoughts coming from my daughter. However," he sighed, "you're right. I could not help but have a general idea."

"Okay. Then you can let me know."

"And give you the green light?" I frowned. "That seems kind of calculating."

"We'd only be giving him permission to court our daughter, Bella," Edward said, "not make off with her. It would still be her decision, to accept him or not, and under what conditions. Especially since Jacob has, unless I'm mistaken, accepted your warnings about his manipulative impulses." He looked at Jacob.

"I said I did. _You_ know if I'm being honest about it," he told Edward.

"That I do."

"Besides," Jacob turned back to me, "it's not the green light I was mostly asking about. It's knowing when there's still a red light. I mean, if she's still a little girl in that way, like Edward says, then if she ever does start to flirt with me or whatever, well, I'll know to take it as just a kid's crush, or a kind of play-acting. I'll know not to take it seriously, no matter how old she looks."

"Okay." That seemed reasonable, but I was still getting used to the whole, bizarre situation. Why couldn't she have kept looking like a little girl, just a few years longer?

"I wouldn't _want_ to do anything before she was ready, Bella."

"It's true," Edward said to me. "Not just noble intentions. His mind actually rebels at the idea of doing anything not completely in Nessie's best interests. I've been called an overprotective father, and that may well be true," he told Jacob, "but quite honestly, I feel completely confident that I can trust you with my daughter. I doubt I could say the same of any other man."

"Thanks," Jacob said. "You _are_ an overprotective father, so that really means something."

"I believe we have a plan in place," Edward said. "Jacob will continue as Nessie's friend and confidante, as before. He agrees to accept our insights into her emotional maturity, and to act accordingly. Do you agree so far?"

"This sounds like a legal document," Jacob laughed.

Edward didn't smile. "I intend it to be just as solemn and binding."

Jacob sobered. "I agree."

"Good. Jacob further agrees to take your observations on his past mode of courtship to heart, and to refrain, to the very best of his ability, from ever using such devices against our daughter. He will win her heart by honest means, or not at all."

"Yes, I agree to all that."

Edward looked at me questioningly. "I'm satisfied," I said. "I've got everything I came here for."

"Excellent. Then are we finished?"

"Except for one thing," Jacob said. He turned to me. "I'm sorry, Bella."

"Jake, that's not necessary. You apologized before."

"I know, but like you said, I didn't accept that I had much to apologize for. I did try to use guilt and pity to control you, and that was wrong. And I'm really, truly sorry I...assaulted you. That's what it was, even if I didn't think so at the time. I'm so sorry. For real this time."

I grinned at him. "I forgive you. For real this time."

"Great. Then can we finally get out of this dark, wet forest, and go home to bed?"

Edward caught my eye. "Definitely."


	12. New Information

Making concessions gave Jacob the momentum he needed to start finding his place in the Cullen family, something he'd been resisting a long time. We'd accepted his being on the periphery of our lives, which I began to realize was a little cold, but we'd all thought we were merely giving him his space.

Fitting in with the family included finding his place in terms of material possessions. He took an unusual approach: rather than simply accept having the family pay his college tuition, provide his car, and whatever else they were hoping for, he asked if he could use their resources to make his own money.

"I know I'm already doing that, with the shop," he explained to Carlisle, "so maybe it seems like I'm hiding behind technicalities. But I'd feel better if I were at least slightly independent."

"We gave you the shop as a thank you gift, Jacob. The fact that it's making a profit is entirely due to your own hard work and talent."

"Sure, sure."

Carlisle chuckled at the familiar, skeptical response. "What is it you would like to do?"

"You guys make a lot of your money by investment, right?"

"Nearly all of it. Thanks to Alice, we never fail to make a profit."

"Exactly. I was wondering if you'd mind if I shared in that."

"How do you mean?"

"Invested some of the money I make at the shop, using Alice's All-Seeing Eye. If that's okay with her, of course, and with you."

Carlisle turned to Alice, who was grinning happily. "Tell you what," she said, "I'll give you hot financial tips as needed, if you'll accept a little guidance with your clothing choices."

"Should've seen _that_ coming."

"I'm the only one who sees things coming around here, Buster. Is it a deal?"

"I get final veto."

"All I ask is that you be reasonable. You want to look like the young self-made mogul you are, right? Or rather, soon will be."

"Will I be able to pay my own way through college in three years?"

Alice laughed. "You're thinking small. You'll be well beyond that."

"Good."

"I don't know why you have to make such a big deal out of this in the first place."

"Not that I have a lot of choice, but I'd rather support myself. I don't like being kept."

"Jacob," Carlisle said gently, "I admire your attitude, but keep in mind that you are only now at the age when most young people become independent of their parents' financial support. Had you continued in school and gone on to college, you would have been provided for until quite recently. Instead, you took the role of a man while you were little more than a boy, in order to protect our family. Is it not more than fair, then, that we try to make up for some of your lost time?"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "It always sounds so reasonable when _you_ say it."

Carlisle smiled at him. "The approach you suggest is fine. We are all delighted to help you establish yourself."

Alice cocked an eye at him. "So you won't take money from us, but you don't mind insider trading?"

"It's_ legal_ insider trading, and at least everybody here's doing the same. I'm okay with it if you are."

Alice looked back at Carlisle, who nodded. "I believe we have an agreement."

"You're getting better at those," I told Jacob.

His relationship with Nessie continued as it had been, except that Jake was noticeably more careful to let Nessie make decisions and arrive at conclusions without his influence. He still gave his opinion freely, and our discussion didn't seem to have made him self-conscious around her. For myself, I felt a surprising sense of relief at having got all that off my chest. I'd done it for Nessie's sake, but maybe I'd been holding on to just a tiny bit of resentment on my own behalf, all these years. Maybe repressing things wasn't always the best approach, after all.

Jake came with us when Edward, Nessie and I went back to Forks for a week during Spring Break. He spent the time with the pack, getting reacquainted and going over any business that might call for the leader's attention. There had been no vampire presence in the area since the Cullens had left, but the wolves kept themselves unofficially on call to deal with dangerous or covert situations where they might be useful, from lost children to hiking accidents. Leah said employing the werewolves to rescue campers was like using a winged horse to pull a plough, but Jake was all for it. As he pointed out, the wolves appeared in the first place in order to protect humans. There was no reason they had to limit that protection to fighting vampires. Humans encountered more than enough other dangers to keep the wolves busy. Charlie was given just enough of a hint to know he could notify Sam when a local difficulty required some unofficial help.

While Jacob was there, he officially gave Seth permission to leave the pack, a decision the others supported unanimously. In a few years, Seth would begin to age normally, and he and his Hannah could grow old together. Seth was like the flip side of my coin: I accepted immortality for love, and he gave it up for love.

We spent some time with Charlie and Sue, who were now as comfortable together as a couple married decades instead of a few years. Charlie was especially happy to spend some time with Nessie. In spite of her mysterious beginnings and the fact that she had apparently become a high school sophomore in only six years, somehow Nessie never set off Charlie's fear of the uncanny. They adored each other. Charlie arranged to get access to the local community centre so Nessie could use their piano, giving Charlie a personal reprise of her music recital triumph.

We had the chance to meet Hannah George, a sweet, funny girl we took to right away. She'd been won over by Seth in no time, as I'd expected. Everybody liked Seth, and Seth in love would have been hard for any girl to resist. He'd found a great job in Seattle with the public health department - Sue suspected more Cullen intervention - which would allow him to be near Hannah while she attended college.

We returned home from our visit to find Mila and William at the house. This was unsurprising. They'd become a fixture in the Cullen household.

William and Mila stayed in the little cottage the Cullens rented for them through the spring. They returned to Quebec for a ten day visit with the Denali in March, only to come back and stay with us again, giving no indication they were thinking of returning to England. In fact, they'd tentatively brought up the subject of finding a more permanent residence in the area. This was awkward, once again because of money. If the pair wanted to live in a more civilized fashion, they would require some kind of regular income. Two family meetings had been devoted to resolving this issue without making our friends uncomfortable.

"They seem to be determined to stay on, but they're wavering on where and how," Edward told the family. "They feel the reasonable thing, and the expected thing, is probably to join the Denalis. Tanya's family found them in the first place, and they're a smaller group. But both William and Mila have a preference for our family. They don't want to explain it that way, especially to the Denalis."

"_I'll_ explain it to them," Emmett offered gleefully. "'Hey, Tanya! They like us better!'."

"You'll do nothing of the kind!" Esme told him.

"They don't _dis_like Tanya's family," Edward said, "and they intend to keep up contact. In fact, they're not entirely amenable to joining our family, either. After being alone so long, living in constant contact with such a large group puts them off. What they find the most congenial is the idea of living on their own, but in regular contact with both other families."

"Sounds good," Emmett shrugged. "Why not do that?"

"There are practical considerations," Jasper pointed out. "The paperwork I can handle, but they'd need a source of money. William can't bring in enough playing music in the street, and they don't want to steal."

"They also don't want to let us support them," Edward said.

"This is always the problem," Alice sighed. "Where are all these people looking for a free lunch we hear so much about? _We_ never seem to run into any of them."

"I'm sure we can come up with an arrangement we can all live with," Carlisle said. "Jacob was willing to receive our assistance on his own terms. We have to find out what our friends feel able to accept, and work with them on that basis."

We all agreed to stay alert to possibilities.

One indication that William and Mila were accepted as one of us was their inclusion in our occasional baseball games. Neither of them had ever played before, but were happy to learn. The last week in March, a thunderstorm was predicted, and the eleven of us headed out to a flat, open area we'd discovered in the low mountains to our east. No humans would be wandering near there, especially at night in a thunderstorm. We took time for a few practice swings, in deference to our newcomers. They caught on quickly. Emmett badgered Mila to stop holding the bat like a cricket bat, until Jasper pointed out that her batting average was already close to Emmett's.

"Maybe _you_ should be taking pointers from_ her_," Alice suggested.

"Just throw the ball," Emmett growled, swinging the bat menacingly over his head.

Alice grinned and let fly. Emmett worked up to two strikes before connecting to the ball, but Edward leapt up and caught it deftly before he'd reached first base. We mocked Emmett in the usual fashion. Emmett's competitive spirit intensified a notch.

In the next inning, a fly ball headed to what had been designated right field, the area given to the less experienced Mila. Emmett, in centre field, dashed for it, hoping to match Edward's last move. Mila ran to intercept it at the same time. Emmett picked up speed and dove just as Mila did the same.

What happened next was difficult to define. One moment Emmett was in midair, leaping into right field for a fly ball; the next moment, he was sitting on the ground, looking dazed, and the baseball had bounced back into the infield - a fair distance, given the dimensions of our particular baseball field.

We stopped playing. "Em? Are you okay?" Rosalie called.

He looked around as if confused, then slowly got to his feet. "What the hell was _that_?"

Edward looked sharply toward Mila. She had a panicked look on her face, and was staring helplessly at William, who hurried to her side.

"Mila, you don't have to be afraid. They're not going to..."

"Wills, can we just go? Please."

He nodded, and with the briefest of apologies they ran off together.

We gathered in the centre of our baseball diamond. "What just happened?" Jasper asked.

"That's what I want to know," Emmett said. "I never felt anything like that! I was jumping for the ball, and suddenly..." He shook his head.

"What was it you felt?" Carlisle asked.

"It was like being hit by a truck. Well, being hit by a truck when I was human. Not even that, though." He frowned. "It was like everything around me, the _air_, gathered up and knocked me away. I didn't know where I was for a minute. Weird!"

"It makes sense now," Edward said.

"What does?" Carlisle looked at him sharply.

"What they were blocking in their minds. Why they were so afraid of the Volturi knowing about them. It's Mila. She's gifted."

"_Mila_ did that?" Emmett seemed more offended than surprised.

"What's the exact nature of the gift?" Carlisle asked.

"I don't know. She's still hiding it from me as much as she can. But she's afraid of it becoming known."

"They're both afraid," Jasper said, "but Mila far more so."

"We have to reassure them," Esme said, "tell them we'll keep their secret. I'd hate to have them leave over this."

"Are they thinking of leaving?" Carlisle asked Edward.

"Their plans aren't clear just yet."

"Then let's go back and talk to them," Carlisle said. "And until they consent, don't mention this to anyone, not even Jacob or the Denali. I want them to know they can trust us."

The couple were not at our house or their cabin when we returned. Their scent trailed off into the park and to the north-east.


	13. Experiments

We waited two days, hoping William and Mila would talk things over and return, but there was no sign of them. Carlisle phoned the Denalis, thinking the couple might find their way back to Tanya's family while deciding what to do, but that was not the case. Tanya promised to notify us if they showed up or made contact.

"We have to be satisfied with that," Carlisle told us, "at least for now. Possibly they will find their way back, or at least send word. Even if they return to England and we never see them again, we can hope our friendship will have done them some good, and us as well. Knowing there are more of our kind who choose this way of life can only be encouraging."

We could only wait, and hope for the best.

Mere days later, Esme convinced Jacob to participate in plans for our next home. The main Cullen home was half finished, but she'd left the details of Jake's house blank, and she explained plaintively that she hated leaving a project unfinished. "It's my nature," she explained apologetically to Jacob. "I like to have all the details in place ahead of time. Would you mind going over it with me?"

"Sure, but I don't know what you need from me. You're the expert on this."

Esme's dimple appeared. "You're certainly the expert on one thing: your own preferences."

"Esme, it's more than enough you guys provide me with a house. Whatever you want to do with it will be great. I wouldn't even know what to tell you. I lived in pretty basic housing on the Rez. No holes in the roof, that about does it for me."

She laughed. "I'm sure you have some likes and dislikes, even if they don't come to mind immediately."

"I don't like giving you more work." This time, several of us laughed. "What?"

"Jacob, this is what I do for recreation. It's a nice bonus that it's also useful, but there's nothing I love better than designing and renovating. But it's more fun if I have some guidelines to work within. Finding something that suits a person with different tastes than mine provides a nice challenge. Please, Jacob?"

It would take a stronger man than Jacob to turn down Esme. "Sure, okay. What do you need to know?"

Esme questioned him for some thirty minutes, asking carefully chosen questions about what he liked or disliked about his childhood home and the house he now lived in. Esme was good at reading between the lines, and Jacob provided information without realizing it, until she had an idea of what kind of environment would make him comfortable. She made some preliminary sketches, and Jacob's house was underway.

We'd resigned ourselves to never seeing William or Mila again, but in fact it was less than two weeks later that they reappeared. In the early evening, while we were gathered and involved in the usual group and individual activities, chess and homework, reading and drawing, flirting and arguing, Edward suddenly tensed and raised his head. "William," he said. He rose to look out the window.

I hurried to join him, and the others set aside what they were doing. "Is he alone?" Carlisle asked.

He paused. "No, Mila is close by. She seems to be hesitant about coming here."

We waited, not wanting to rush at them like a pack of wolves - so to speak - and shortly we heard one set of footsteps, then a second, on the front porch. The doorbell rang, and Esme was there to open it before the sound had stopped. Any awkwardness our visitors might have felt over their sudden disappearance, and reappearance, was scattered by Esme's open delight at seeing them again. She embraced them both and urged them to come inside, exclaiming how good it was to see them again. The rest of us followed her example, and the pair were soon settled in our living room, William discussing music with Edward and Mila exchanging jokes with Emmett.

After a long, comfortable time had passed, William sighed and said, "I suppose we should explain."

"There is no need," Carlisle told him. "You are free to come and go as you please, always; although we hope you will at least stay in touch with us, wherever you might find yourselves."

"That is our intention," William said. "In fact, our hope is to continue with the plans we began to make some days ago, and to stay in the area. To remain your neighbours, as Tanya's people have done, and shift ourselves when and where your two families do. With your permission, we shall continue with that undertaking."

We all expressed our enthusiastic support of that plan. "Three synchronized satellites are better than two," Emmett agreed.

"We are agreed, then."

Mila looked at him with a tight smile. "Still, I should apologize for our sudden departure a few days ago. It was my fault. When I realized we'd let the cat out of the bag, my first thought was to run." She looked at Edward. "I suppose you understand why."

He shrugged. "I have a rough idea. You're afraid we'll inform the Volturi about your gift."

"You must understand, we have no more wish to provide the Volturi with information than you do," Carlisle told them. "If you heard the account of our last meeting with them, you can understand we consider them our greatest threat."

"Yes, I do understand that." Mila looked a little embarrassed. "It wasn't a rational response. It's been a fear of mine for so long, it's become more reflex than anything. William convinced me we had nothing to fear from any of you."

"I'm glad you've come to that conclusion." Carlisle smiled at them.

"But there is one thing you ought to be aware of," William said. "Mila was afraid primarily for my sake."

"For yours?" Edward looked at her. "Why?" His surprised look showed he'd heard the answer in William's thoughts.

William grinned. "It seems Mila has been disguising her thoughts better than she had assumed. This 'gift' we are keeping a secret is not Mila's; it is mine."

We all stared. "_I_ didn't see that one coming," Alice remarked.

"They probably didn't decide to share the information until minutes ago, if then," Edward told her.

"No, to be honest, we didn't." Mila grimaced. "I've heard about how the Volturi like to collect gifted individuals, use some kind of mind control to keep them in the Guard. I couldn't stand the thought of that happening to William. His gift would probably be considered very valuable to them."

"Forgive me, but what exactly is the nature of your gift?" Carlisle asked. "I realize it is some form of shield, but the form it takes may make a difference. It may be something the Volturi would find redundant."

"I have no idea what terminology would be used for it." William smirked at his mate. "Mila dubs it my_ force field_, based on the language of some modern work of fiction, I am given to understand."

"Star Trek," Mila and I murmured at the same time. We both stifled a laugh.

"May I ask a few questions about it?" Carlisle asked cautiously.

William spread his hands in acceptance, and Mila nodded. "No running away this time, I promise."

"You used it to stop Emmett when he was about to collide with Mila."

"Yes. I apologize; it was a reflex action. Emmett is rather imposing physically."

Emmett grinned. "No problem. But your shield, or whatever it was, packs a wallop."

"Emmett seemed disoriented as well as being prevented from advancing. Should I assume your shield is one that acts on the mind?"

"I am not certain how it works, to be honest."

"It seems likely, at first glance," Carlisle said thoughtfully. "Aro's bodyguard, Renata, has a gift of that kind. Her shield does not physically repel attackers, but it causes them to deflect their attack in another direction and become confused. In fact, a purely physical shield is almost unheard of, and where such a gift does occur, it is very limited in strength or scope."

"But the baseball," I began.

"What was that, Bella?" The others looked at me.

"Well, when Emmett was stopped, it was like he'd hit a wall. That could be because something acted on his mind. But when it happened, the baseball was flying through the air, and it bounced off something and went in another direction. Like it hit an invisible force field." I caught Mila's eye.

"Indeed!" Carlisle turned back to William. "Interesting! William, would you object to a few simple experiments?"

"No, I think not." He looked at Mila, who seemed willing. "I would like to discover what it is I have been carrying around with me as much as any of you."

We headed outside, everyone still a bit elated about our friends' return, and now excited at the new possibilities were were exploring. We gathered in an open area twenty yards or so from the house, first checking carefully to be sure no humans were close by. "Let us begin with something simple," Carlisle suggested. "Emmett, would you be so kind as to run at William and try to reach him? No need to be aggressive," he added, as Emmett's eyes lit up. "Just try to reach him and tag him."

"Will do." Emmett crouched, looked to William for a signal to start. William nodded once, and Emmett charged. About four feet in front of William, he was suddenly thrown back, as if he'd run straight into a wall. Except that few actual walls would have stopped Emmett as completely.

"Emmett?" Carlisle leaned over Emmett, who was sitting on the ground where he'd landed. "What did that feel like, from your perspective?"

"What?" Emmett looked up at Carlisle vaguely. "Oh, hi!"

Carlisle tilted his head to one side. "Can you tell me what you were doing a moment ago?"

"Doing?" Emmett scrunched up his forehead. "Yeah, I was trying to do something. Give me a minute, I'll remember."

"Interesting." Carlisle continued to watch Emmett, while Rosalie hurried to his side, looking concerned. Abruptly, some five seconds later, Emmett suddenly leapt to his feet.

"Wow!"

"Emmett? Can you describe what happened?"

"I ran into something, and for a minute it was like my head was in a cloud. I couldn't remember anything, couldn't decide to do anything, didn't care either way. Then it just cleared away, and I felt normal again."

"Are you sure it's cleared away?" She turned to Carlisle. "Could that cause any permanent damage?"

"Unlikely in the extreme. Nothing has ever been found to permanently damage a vampire's memory or mental faculties. Aro's actually done some experiments over the years. Temporary confusion, however, has been observed. Renata's gift is one such example, but the effects are always short lived."

Rosalie seemed reassured, but she still kept a watchful eye on Emmett for the next little while.

"Shall we test Bella's observation?" Carlisle asked. "She saw the baseball being deflected by William's shield. May I try the effects of your shield on an inanimate object?"

"Certainly." William was getting into the spirit of the thing now. "Try what you will."

"Alice," Carlisle said, "you have the best pitching arm in the family. Would you do the honours?"

She grinned and scouted the ground until she found a roughly baseball-sized rock. "This is meant in an entirely friendly spirit, William." He laughed and spread his arms wide, offering himself as a target. She wound up and threw a fastball directly into the strike zone.

As we watched, the rock seemed to hit an invisible obstacle. It ricocheted off slightly to one side and flew through the air, arcing over our heads and landing a short distance behind us. "Fascinating," Carlisle remarked. "Both a physical shield _and_ one that acts on the mind. Have you ever tested the strength of your gift?"

"Tested it, in what way?"

"Is there a limit to how much force it can withstand?"

"I could not say," William told him. "I once used it to deflect a car that was about to hit a pedestrian. I was out of sight at the time; it would not have been associated with me in any way. The vehicle was travelling approximately forty-five kilometres per hour. I had no difficulty with the size or weight of the object on that occasion."

"Emmett would likely provide more force than a car," Jasper remarked. "What if all of us ran at you simultaneously?"

William shrugged. "I would be happy to try it."

Mila looked worried, but made no attempt to stop the experiment.

We began lining up in preparation for the attack. Carlisle held Nessie back. "My dear, we should have one person stay apart and observe. Will you watch and take note of the effects?" She nodded and stood to one side as we arranged ourselves in a line, facing William.

At William's nod, we ran toward him at the same speed. I kept pace with Edward on my left and Rosalie on my right, intending to try and get to William and tag him. Just before I reached him, I seemed to be violently repelled backward, and found myself sitting down in the snow. I started to laugh, then stopped as I realized Edward was sitting near me, staring blankly at the ground. I looked at the others, who were also dazed and unresponsive. I stood up and looked over at Nessie.

"Are you okay, Momma?"

"I'm fine. Everybody else seems a little bit, um..."

At that moment, within a second of each other, they all recovered, as if a figurative bucket of cold water had been thrown over them. They stood and looked at each other.

"An interesting experience," said Carlisle. "Renesmee, I assume we reacted much as Emmett did."

"Yes," she said. "All except for Momma."

Edward looked at me. "You didn't experience any of the effects?"

"No. I was stopped by William's shield, just like you, but you all seemed dazed, like Emmett was. I didn't feel that at all."

Carlisle listened eagerly. "That would tend to confirm that William's shield works at two levels, mental and physical. The mental effects were blocked by Bella's shield."

"It also indicates William's shield is extremely powerful," Jasper added.

"True, the combined force of the eight of us would have been considerable. William, did you find it more of an effort to repel all of us at once?"

William shook his head. "It was exactly the same to me."

"Impressive. One other matter. When you shielded Mila, it was from a distance."

"Yes. I find I can...I am not sure how to describe it. I can cast an area of protection around her from wherever I am standing. I discovered that ability by accident. We once encountered another of our kind, who Mila found threatening. I spontaneously placed the shield around her."

"Is there a limit to how far you can cast your shield?"

William shrugged. "I have never attempted to find one."

"The distance of the baseball field earlier is already greater than Renata's maximum range. May we test the scope of your shield?"

"How should we do that?"

"Can you cast a shield around someone, and have them move away from us?"

"Certainly." He looked around at us. "Any volunteers?"

Alice waved her hand. "Let me try!"

"Very well. William, can you shield Alice, please? And Jasper, will you stay with her and determine the presence of the shield, and when it disappears as Alice moves away from us."

"Test it how?"

"I would suggest you simply continue to try and reach her. William, can you maintain a shield of about the same dimensions as your own."

"Certainly." He looked at Alice. "There you are."

"Now?" Jasper moved toward Alice, his hand outstretched, but was stopped short and stood a moment, looking stunned.

"That will not work," Carlisle said. "We need to use objects to test the shield, obviously. Jasper, can you use a branch or some such item instead?"

Jasper picked up a heavy stick from the ground. Alice proceeded to move away from us, Jasper at her side, trying to tap her lightly every few seconds. When they had reached a distance of about a hundred meters, Carlisle called out to them, and they stopped. "Jasper? Is the shield still in place?"

"Yes. There's been no change."

"Perhaps that will do for now." He looked at William. "We can find its ultimate limits at some point, if you like, but that is already a greater range than I had thought possible." Jasper and Alice rejoined us, and William indicated he was withdrawing his shield from Alice. "William, did you find it a greater effort to maintain the shield at that distance?"

"No, it was exactly the same."

"Does it require concentration?"

He hesitated. "Some, but not intense concentration, especially once I have started. I could do it while distracted, I am sure."

From there we ran through a series of brief experiments, many suggested by William himself. He tried expanding his shield outward, deflecting attacks a greater and greater distance from himself; keeping several people under his shield at once; protecting several individuals under separate shields while they were apart from him. He demonstrated that his shield, like mine, was one-way: he could propel things _out_ through his shield, even while it prevented anything from getting in. The one thing he had difficulty with, when Carlisle suggested it, was forming a shield around an empty space. He needed a person to attach it to.

There seemed to be few limits to his ability, even now, when he had not worked deliberately to strengthen or enhance his gift. Carlisle explained this to him. "There is no telling what your capabilities might be after working to expand them. When Bella first joined us, her shield could cover only herself. She had no idea at the time that it was possible to shield others as well; but you have heard what she was able to do when the Volturi came to us."

"I have." He looked at me. "It surprised me you had this ability, without realizing it, even when human."

Carlisle nodded. "It is quite amazing." He looked around. "Shall we return to the house? Perhaps we have enough data for the time being." We all started back.

"This has been most enlightening," William said. "I thank you for making it clearer to me."

We gathered in the living area. Carlisle looked at William soberly. "Unfortunately, there is one negative aspect to your having this extraordinary gift. It is unusually powerful and, as far as I know, unique. That would, as Mila feared, make it of great interest to the Volturi."

Everyone fell silent at that. "We have to make sure the Volturi never hear about it," Rosalie said. "We can never mention this to anybody outside the family, no matter who."

"What about Tanya's family?" Esme asked.

"I suspect they already know," Carlisle replies. "If not all of them, at least Eleazar knows."

"How?" Mila asked.

"Eleazar's gift, which was useful to the Volturi when he was with them, is seeing the gifts of others. I assume he was able to perceive yours. Whether he told the others in his family, I could not say; but he never mentioned it to us."

"Eleazar would not inform the Volturi of his findings," Edward assured William and Mila. "He no longer works for them, and after our encounter in Forks, he is as suspicious of them as we are."

"Let's hope so," Mila murmured.

We spoke about William's gift often over the next few weeks, and he occasionally set up another informal experiment to gauge its limits. Near the end of March, he and Mila left us and travelled back to visit with Tanya's family once again. They did not divide their time exactly equally, and I felt a little bit of Emmett's childish triumph that our new friends seemed to prefer our company to the Denalis'.


	14. Shopping Around

Alice insisted that we needed to make one more shopping trip to finish off Nessie's spring wardrobe, and on a cloudy Saturday we headed off to the nearest city with stores acceptable - almost - to Alice's exacting requirements. Jacob closed his shop for the day and joined the core committee of Nessie, Alice, and myself, willing to put up with a day of clothes shopping in exchange for spending the time with Nessie. He even agreed to change his own clothes for the occasion, in keeping with the agreement between himself and Alice.

"Is this really going to take the whole day?" Jacob asked from the back seat as we headed out.

"It's a little early to start whining," Alice told him sternly.

"I'm just asking!"

"Maybe not," she conceded. "We need just a few more outfits for the rest of the school year, a couple of things for weekends and holidays, and of course a dress for the dance."

"What dance is that?"

"This thing the school is putting on," Nessie explained.

"A freshman/sophomore dance they have in the spring," I said.

"Like the prom?" Jake asked.

"No, only the higher grades go to prom, so the school holds this semi-formal a couple of months earlier, to give the younger students something to attend."

Nessie grimaced. "It's supposed to teach us social skills."

"Like how to spike the punch?" Jacob suggested.

Nessie laughed. "How to dance The Worm."

"Getting the fire sprinklers to go off."

"Convincing one of the teachers to start a conga line."

"Challenging another student to a duel!"

I looked back at them. "Obviously there's no need for either of _you_ to learn social skills."

Jacob smirked at me. "All those things require tremendous poise and finesse, I'll have you know." Nessie giggled. "So how does the social skills dance work?" he asked Nessie. "They herd you all into the gym with a bad cover band, and bar the exits?"

"And don't let us out until we've danced at least one dance, in front of a reliable witness," she laughed. "No, only the upper grades get a live band. We get a DJ, though."

"You going by yourself?" he asked casually.

"Yeah."

"Uh huh." A second later, he asked, "Didn't anybody invite you? You know, as a date?" Poor Jake. In theory, he should be ambivalent about Nessie dating boys, but he was far more concerned with Nessie feeling left out because boys didn't want to date her.

"Oh, sure," she said, "lots of them." I suppressed a smile. "But I thought I'd rather not go with anybody in particular." She leaned forward to speak to me. "Brad Nixon asked me. He was really polite about it."

"What did you say?"

"I told him no, but thanks for asking me without being insulting. He just took off."

"At least you haven't made an enemy."

She grimaced. "I don't know why he has to be like that. He seems like a nice guy, basically, but he makes himself obnoxious."

"Maybe he's just shy."

She shrugged. Shyness was only a theoretical concept to her.

Alice veered rapidly into a parking space near one of the few shops she approved of. Weekend traffic was bad in downtown Portland, but Alice had already dismissed the mall as inadequate for our purposes. "I'd love to take both of you to New York for a few days," she sighed, examining the Italian imports in the shop window with resignation before leading us through the door.

Jacob trailed along behind us. "When you have to travel through several states to find clothes," he told Alice, "maybe it's time to consider you might be too picky."

She didn't even bother to answer. A smiling but slightly condescending salesperson approached to ask if we needed help. Alice rattled off a list of requirements, including sizes in both American and European numbering, and a list of designers in order of preference, then turned away, obviously expecting the woman to run off and start fetching. As someone who'd always been intimidated by salespeople, this was one part of shopping with Alice I usually enjoyed.

Before her minion had even returned, Alice had gathered an armful of items and sent Nessie to the fitting room to try them on. Jacob found a chair in a corner by the handbags and accessories, and settled in with a sigh. Meanwhile, the woman deputized by Alice had returned with a selection of dresses suitable for a sophomore dance, and also with another employee, a pretty girl in a pink sweater set. "That's all we need for now," Alice told the older woman, effectively dismissing her.

"Just let us know if you need help with anything," she said, withdrawing. She whispered to the girl in pink before returning to her station at the back of the store, evidently telling her to hover in our vicinity, I assumed either because we looked like high rollers who might expect personal attention, or because she suspected us of being shoplifters. After being effectively straight-armed by Alice, the girl withdrew to Jacob's corner, and seemed to be striking up a casual conversation with him.

Nessie came out of the dressing room in a simple skirt and blouse, in keeping with her school's dress code. Alice added a belt and fabric hair band, and turned her in our direction for approval. I smiled at her, and she turned to Jacob. "That looks great," he called to her.

The girl in pink studied them rather carefully. Her thoughts were almost audible: Nessie looked sufficiently younger than Jacob, and Jacob's manner was paternal enough, to let her assume Jake was some kind of big brother figure or old family friend. "She's cute," she said to Jacob, referring to Nessie.

"Yeah," Jacob said affectionately, watching Nessie. "She's a sweetie."

Pink girl seemed happy with this reply. "Do you go to school around here?"

"No, I graduated last year. I work now."

"Oh, really? What kind of work?"

"Mechanic."

Nessie noted their conversation as she returned to the fitting room. She emerged wearing one of Alice's selections for the school's dance, a pale yellow dress with a square neckline and slightly flared skirt. She looked pretty and graceful yet still girlish, so I was happy with it. Alice examined it with a critical eye.

"What do you think, Jacob?" Nessie twirled for him.

"Looks beautiful, Critter," he said.

Nessie paused a moment to watch him with the girl from the store. Jacob was making her laugh, comparing her job with that of auto mechanic. It was obvious to me the girl was flirting with him, and I could see the exact moment Nessie realized it. She raised her eyebrows, stared at them a moment, and wandered back into the little room to try on the next dress.

Alice grabbed me by the collar and urged me into the fitting room with a pale blue cashmere pullover and a pair of slacks. She declared my outfit a keeper, helped Nessie come to a decision about the dance dress - they took the yellow one I liked - and Alice passed it all on to store personnel for processing. A few minutes later, as the pink girl managed to convey to Jacob that she was here at the store most weekends until 6:00, we took up our packages and headed for the car. Alice made a stop at another store for shoes and a third for accessories, and conceded that enough had been done that morning to allow a lunch break for Jacob. For that, she agreed, the mall would suffice.

We found a table for four in the food court and waited while Jacob foraged. Since Jacob typically ate more than the average human being, we easily covered up the fact that Alice and I were not eating by simply spreading his selections out across the table. The non-eaters would toy with food containers, exchanging our full ones for Jacob's empties as required. Nessie nibbled delicately on a cinnamon roll.

"Jacob, we should get you some clothes while we're here," Alice suggested. He glared at her over the top of his smoothie cup. "Hey, I've kept my part of the bargain. Isn't your bank account growing as we speak?"

"Yeah, it is. It's kind of scary how much money is coming in."

"Well, then."

He shrugged. "Okay, clothes it is. But from here, okay? Not from some designer shop."

"I can manage very well with the mall if I have to."

Alice was even more efficient than usual, setting Jacob up with four ensembles within thirty minutes. We also chose an outfit for William and one for Mila, assuming that presenting them when clothing was being distributed to half the family would make the gift more acceptable. "Carlisle and I are working on a way to get them a regular income," Alice confided. "We're hoping to have a plan ready for when they get back from Quebec."

"I'd guess it doesn't involve playing fiddle at the bus station," Jacob said.

Alice laughed. "Oddly enough, it kind of does. But all will be revealed in time!"

"Not like he can work a nine to five job."

"It wouldn't be easy. And he'd have to leave it behind and find another one every few years. Like you have to leave your auto thingie."

He nodded, frowning, but Alice was too distracted to notice she'd been inadvertently unkind. She stopped short in front of a menswear shop. "Ooh, Jacob! You need one of those!"

"Thanks for telling me." He was already being pulled along.

"Alice!" I called after her. "I'm going into the bookstore. I'll meet you at the entrance."

"Okay," she agreed, already flipping through racks. "Nessie, you going with her or staying?"

"I'll go." She walked along with me through the busy corridors, glancing at windows as we passed. "It's too bad Jacob has to close down his shop, after working so hard to get it going."

"Yes, it's a shame."

She fell silent, and I thought that was the end of the discussion. She said suddenly, "That girl at the store downtown, I think she was flirting with Jacob."

"Yes, I think so."

"Jacob never goes out on dates or anything, does he?"

"Um, no, I've never known him to."

There was another silence. I wondered if this was leading anywhere in particular.

"Momma, what happens if Jacob wants to get married some day? He'd want to stay in one place, so he could keep the same job, and have a house for his wife and maybe his family, right?"

"I suppose he would."

"It would seem strange not to have him with us, though." She seemed lost in thought, and continued to muse in silence while I browsed the bookshelves and walked back half an hour later to meet Alice and Jake.

Alice seemed to have done well; they were both carrying armloads of bags. "I think my work here is done!" she declared, and we headed for the parking lot, stowed the day's shopping in the trunk, and started for home.

When we had a moment alone, I told Edward about my little exchange with Nessie.

"I caught some of it in her thoughts," he said. "It's weighing on her mind a bit."

"Does this indicate any kind of breakthrough for her? I mean, in terms of...maturity?"

He smiled. "She's not really seeing Jacob as a potential boyfriend, if that's what you mean. But it is a breakthrough of another kind. This is the first time she's even questioned Jacob's presence in her life. He's always simply been there. He's been_ her_ Jacob. Now she's begun to think of him as a person in his own right, with needs and wishes of his own. I suppose it is a necessary first step."

"A first step?"

"If they do marry, some day," we shared a familiar glance of wistfulness at our daughter's brief, nearly concluded childhood, "she'll have to accept him as more than just her property. It would be a very unequal partnership, otherwise."

"Yes; but Jake would put up with it. I feel sorry for him sometimes. The imprinting thing makes him so _abject_. Nessie could push him around and take advantage of him as much as she wants, and he'd just take it. Not that she'd be mean to him on purpose," I quickly added, "but until now, she's hardly given him any thought, just expected him to always be there, giving her whatever she needed at the time."

He nodded thoughtfully. "As I said, it's a start."

After three weeks with the Denalis, Mila and William returned to Maine, more firmly resolved than ever to stay. Jasper had arranged for the paperwork necessary to establish them as permanent residents. The morning after they returned, while Nessie was at school and Jacob at his shop, Carlisle asked the couple to join us for a short family meeting. We gathered around the dining table, standing this time, while Jasper presented them with citizenship papers, including a driver's license for each.

"That particular document is a worse fabrication than the others," William said, holding up his license. "I have never been inside a motor vehicle, much less driven one."

"But Kate let me drive while we were visiting," Mila said. "It's not as difficult as I'd remembered. You can learn to drive, and make the license valid after the fact." William looked skeptical, but agreed to try.

"The other issue we need to deal with," Carlisle said, "is that of your financial independence. This is something we've all found essential to living as we do. A nomad can manage with no possessions save the clothes on his back. For us to pass as human and live a settled life requires funding. We would all be happy to extend our support, provided you are comfortable with such a situation."

The two looked at each other. "I must confess, I am uneasy at being maintained at your family's expense."

Carlisle nodded. "I understand. Jacob felt much the same way. He chose an alternative arrangement: he invested a portion of his income where Alice, using her gift, indicated it would gain value quickly. He will soon have a competence of his own. We would be happy to make similar arrangements for both of you."

"Very kind of you," William said, "but we have no income with which to begin the transaction."

"But you do." Carlisle smiled at Alice. "You still have, I understand, a little money you collected by playing music in public places."

William laughed. "No more than a few dollars!"

"That's all we'd need," Alice said cheerfully. "If you spend even five or ten dollars on a stock that doubles in value within the week, then invest your doubled money on another stock that doubles, and so on, you'd be rich before the year is out. Just hand me ten bucks, and I'll make you a fortune."

"And once you have sufficient capital," Jasper told them, "you can live indefinitely off the interest, or further investments if you care to make them."

"We maintain our comfortable living based on Alice's insight," Carlisle explained.

"It seems like taking advantage of you," Mila said doubtfully.

"This information pops into my head without any effort," Alice said. "If it makes you feel better, pay me one cent first."

"One cent?" Mila asked, confused.

"A penny for my thoughts." She grinned impishly, and they couldn't help but laugh.

"A reliable income is essential to our way of life," Carlisle told them. "We have to be able to relocate when needed. and to maintain the trappings of human existence. It is not feasible for most of us to work for a living. We all appreciate and admire how far you have both come, and we look forward to being able to continue our friendship. Please, let us make this final step possible for you."

Mila looked at William, who shrugged. "It seems best," he said, and she nodded. He turned back to Carlisle. "Very well. I place all my worldly wealth in your capable hands." He dragged a handful of change and crumpled bills from his pockets and dumped them on the table. "We await your instructions."

"We'll have to make sure you have enough money to either buy or rent a place to live. The cabin is only yours until the end of June." Carlisle looked over at Alice, who nodded confidently. "It seems that will not be a problem."

"I'll start scouting the area for something available as of summer," Esme offered.

We left our new cousins to be instructed in modern banking and investment procedures by Jasper and Emmett.

In the evening, after Nessie had gone to bed, we were enjoying our usual multi-level family gathering, this time expanded to include our newest friends. William turned to Carlisle. "You know, while we were up north, we did a bit more experimenting with my shield, of the kind we tried earlier. We expanded the range of tests, and your friend Eleazar asked me to mention something to you. He made quite a point of it. He said to be sure and tell you that my shield is impervious to fire."

Carlisle looked up. "You actually tried it?"

"Aye, we did. Eleazar had me expand my shield, for safety's sake, while he tried some sort of device that shoots flame against it. I had no difficulty, no matter what kind of fire he used or what arrangement he had me make with my shield. He seemed altogether fascinated with that aspect of it."

"As am I," murmured Carlisle.

At that moment, Alice got to her feet, her eyes wild and staring. "Oh!"

Edward looked up from the piano keys. "Alice?" An instant later, he appeared to see what Alice was seeing, and his expression changed to one of shock.

"Oh, my goodness!" Alice whispered. "So much...! I don't know..."

Edward was looking at her, following her thoughts. "Which is it?"

"I can't tell yet! So many possible decisions," Alice said, shaking her head in agitation.

They definitely had our attention. "Edward? Alice? Can you tell us what is happening?" Carlisle asked.

Edward stared at his sister a moment longer, then turned away with an effort. "There are changes coming up in the future. Probably long term future, maybe short. Having to do with the Volturi, and ourselves."

"Changes?" Jasper asked tensely. His eyes went back to Alice, who had emerged from her vision.

"A lot of potential changes," she explained. "Nothing definite yet, but most of the possible outcomes are significant."

"Significant how? What _are_ the possibilities?"

She told him.

We all sat quietly a few minutes, stunned into stillness.

At last Carlisle spoke. "We have to contact Tanya. Our entire...extended family need to have a meeting." He looked over at Mila and William. "Our _entire_ family. That does include you, as far as we are concerned. I'm sorry to burden you with all this so soon, and after you have been through so many important decisions, but it seems your presence here has set off some potential changes. You are under no obligation to participate in any decisions we make; however, I hope you will at least join our discussion, and contribute any thoughts or suggestions you might have."

They looked at each other. "We can certainly agree to that much," William said.

Carlisle contacted Tanya by email, telling her only that there was a rather serious matter he wanted the entire group to discuss in person. She responded shortly afterward, and a meeting was set for the following Sunday night, at a point roughly halfway between our home and the Denalis'. Carlisle mentioned that William and Mila, or the Dunoon Coven, as Emmett had taken to calling them, would be attending as well.

"Good," Tanya replied. "From what Eleazar tells me, their input will be essential.

Nessie's dance was on the Saturday before the scheduled meeting. She put on the dress Alice had picked out, then Alice, Esme, Rosalie and I gathered round to do her hair, put on her necklace, and generally exclaim over how pretty she looked. She seemed like a princess from a fairy tale, surrounded by handmaids, except that Nessie was too egalitarian to play the role properly. She asked if any of us had been to dances. Rosalie had a great deal of positive experience with those; Esme a little; Alice recalled some memorable school dances she'd attended with Jasper after they found Carlisle's family; and I was able to contribute my own ambivalent experience at the single prom I'd attended.

We took Nessie downstairs, the four of us preceding her down the steps like bridesmaids, but Nessie laughing at the attention and refusing to take the whole thing seriously. A room full of teenagers at an event intended to test and showcase your social skills - what's to worry about, right? It would have been a nightmare for me. I envied her calm assurance a little. Jacob was there to see her off, first offering a small nosegay of flowers in honour of the occasion - not a corsage, since he was not her date, I noted. Jacob was being scrupulous about such things. Nessie hugged him warmly and insisted on placing them in water before leaving.

Edward and I drove her to the dance, Nessie reaching over the back seat most of the way, to make contact and present us with a series of images - possible mishaps that might occur at a school dance, all of them funny. Her humorous take on the dance got Edward to stop treating it like a major, life-changing event, and we kissed her goodbye at the door and promised to pick her up when it was over. She waved to us, and disappeared into a sea of fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds. None were as pretty as Nessie, or as well dressed, but she blended in effortlessly, waving at classmates and giving Meghan a hug. Nessie was politely admiring Meghan's ghoulish black dress as the door swung shut on us.

When we got back, Jacob was still at the house. "They asked me to stay here," he said. "What's going on?" He looked at me suspiciously, as if expecting me to find more things from six or seven years back to berate him over.

Carlisle came to sit across from Jacob. "We all have to leave Sunday evening to meet with Tanya's family. William and Mila as well."

"Okay. So, you want me to go with you, or what?"

"No, that's not it. We have no idea how long it might take, and we would rather not include Renesmee on this occasion."

I chimed in, "We were hoping you could stay here, keep an eye on her - not that she needs much care at this point - and if we take a long time, get her to school Monday morning."

"Sure, I can do that. What's the meeting for?"

We'd already talked about informing Jacob. It seemed like a good idea. "Some information came out concerning our new friends. This led to Alice seeing some future events we all need to be aware of."

Jake's eyes grew wide as Carlisle filled him in. "Okay," he said at last. "Consider me informed. You'll keep me posted on anything else Alice sees?"

"Absolutely. We may need your help with this at some point. Yours, and possibly the pack's as well."

"You've got it," Jacob told him without hesitation.

"We're grateful."

Jake shook his head impatiently. "But how far into the future are we talking about?"

"Probably many years. That's one thing Alice is trying to pinpoint."

"What do you have planned?"

"At the moment, nothing," Carlisle admitted. "That's the purpose of this meeting."


	15. Strategy

Edward and I arrived promptly to pick Nessie up from the dance. More parents were in the parking lot outside the hall where the event was held, looking excited and making sympathetic eye contact with other parents. Bearing in mind that we were supposed to be mere aunt and uncle, we tried to look reserved and only mildly interested in the success of the outing.

Nessie emerged from the doorway at the same time as nine other students, and walked with them to the parking area. After agreeing to stand still for a few group photographs by an overeager father, she said goodbye to the others and hurried to our car, sliding quickly into the back seat. "Drive!"

With a surprised look, Edward complied. Once on the road, he glanced back at Nessie. "What's the hurry? Is something wrong?"

"No hurry. It's just that I was getting tired of all the chatter. Those girls kept pulling me into conversations about stuff I had no interest in."

"Like what?"

"Oh, who kissed who, who wants to date who, who's jealous of who. It was the same thing all the way through the dance. Every time a boy asked a girl to dance, even once, everybody started calculating what it all meant. It was a dance, right? We were all supposed to be dancing with as many people as we could, supposedly. It's not supposed to mean anything besides dancing."

"Matchmaking and personal intrigue has always been a big part of these events," Edward told her, "or so I understand."

"Well, I don't have much patience for it."

"Did you do any dancing?" I asked.

"Yes, but it wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped."

"Why not?"

"For one thing, I was almost the only one who could actually dance. Most of the boys just stood and swayed back and forth for slow dances, or thrashed around for fast ones. For another thing, every time I did dance with somebody, the _personal intrigue_ started flying back and forth. People kept matching me up with my dance partners, until I was almost afraid to walk out on the floor with anyone.  
>"And besides, everybody here seemed like such kids. I don't notice it so much in class, maybe because the teacher's controlling all the interactions. At an event like this, it's obvious. They act so silly! And yes," she rolled her eyes at my look, "I know <em>I'm<em> a kid myself, less than half their age, but they still seem a lot younger than me. At times like this, I feel like I have nothing at all in common with these kids."

"Well," I said mildly, "you did spend most of your childhood around only adults. It's bound to rub off."

"Maybe that's it."

Edward looked back at her again. "I hope you had a good time nevertheless."

"Oh, sure. It was fine."

"And were asked to dance a _great_ many times?"

She laughed. "Yes. If you can call that dancing."

"They'll probably get better in a few years," I suggested.

"I guess I've been spoiled, growing up in this family. Everybody's a good dancer. Well, except Jacob."

Edward glanced briefly in my direction. "Maybe you should teach him."

"Yeah, maybe I should." She fell quiet a few minutes.

"Any further dispatches?" Edward asked.

"A girl got sick, and it turns out it was the same girl who was sick in the cafeteria a while back."

"Poor kid." I could sympathize with her embarrassment, if not her chronically weak stomach.

"Yeah. Everybody's always going to remember her as Vomiting Girl. At least this time she made it out the door first. Oh, and Ms. Russell found out that an area behind the equipment shed was the place kids went to make out. She went out there and chased them all off." Nessie place a hand on my neck and one on Edward's, showing us her view of the event, a stern Ms. Russell chasing the couples out of hiding and back to the auditorium. In her mind, Nessie compared it to a farmer shooing crows from his cornfield.

We both laughed, but Edward seemed a little concerned. I gave him a quick sidewise glance of warning. Nessie was remarkably open with both of us. The last thing I wanted was to inhibit her from confiding in us.

Nessie was out of the car and into the house before Edward had finished parking. She provided a brief update on the dance to any family members who were interested, then calmly settled down to join Jacob in a game of cards - a strange combination of poker and Go Fish they'd come up with together years before. I curled up with a book, thinking ahead to tomorrow night's meeting and feeling grateful for a peaceful evening at home with my family.

We set out for the meeting late enough to allow Edward and me to say goodnight to Nessie. Jacob stood by the door as we left, his protective stance unintentionally symbolic. "Good luck, you guys," he said, a little grimly.

Carlisle nodded to him. "We'll fill you in on every detail once we get back."

The ten of us ran north, veering to east or west when necessary in order to avoid travelling through inhabited areas, running at top speed through the woods. I set every other thought aside for the moment and just took pleasure in the act of running. We crossed the St. Laurence River and proceeded to the designated place, a secluded area inside a national park. We all exchanged warm greetings and the Denalis asked about Nessie, but once the pleasantries were over, everyone became serious. We gathered, standing in a circle, comfortable in spite of the damp, chilly weather and exposed conditions.

Carlisle began. "When I received the message Eleazar had passed along, that William's shield was an effective barrier against fire, I reacted as you might expect. The possibilities this suggested, the level of protection it afforded, caused me to think ahead, to consider how it might one day be useful.  
>"At that point Alice, who keeps more or less continuous watch over the future of the Volturi and their guard, was hit by an image of the future. I should say, many images. There are several individuals who could influence our lives as they relate to the Volturi, and what any or all of them decide affects the future. Each possible combination of intentions could result in a different outcome. What Alice saw, as she explained it to me, was an array of all the possible futures we might be facing. Does that express it accurately, Alice?"<p>

"Yes, that's right."

"Who are the people making these decisions? The Volturi, and all of us?" Tanya asked.

"Yes, although some individuals have more of an effect than others."

William shook his head. "Perhaps you should start from the beginning. I'm not sure I understand these visions of yours, even yet. You see the future, correct?"

"Well, yes and no. I see the future, but the fact is, there _is_ no future at the moment, not yet. What the future will be depends on what happens now, on what people decide to do now, in the present. Clear so far?"

"More or less." William stood with his arms crossed, trying to follow.

"Okay, example: if I look at _our_ future," she sketched a circle with her hands to indicate Carlisle's family, "I might see us arriving back home some time Monday, and you and Mila with us. But then, if the two of you decide, five minutes from now, to go back to L'auvergne with our cousins, my image of the future would immediately change, and I'd see you two up north instead."

"I see, yes."

"Now, when two or more people are making decisions, the future gets complicated. There are many possible outcomes, and I see them all sort of superimposed on each other, with the most likely coming out on top. But which outcome is most likely, that can change. Sometimes there are two equally possible outcomes, and they keep shifting back and forth: 'I'm most likely!' 'No, _I_ am!' - until eventually, one future becomes the clear winner."

"But it's our future in relation to the Volturi you asked us here to discuss, right?" Tanya asked Carlisle.

"It is. Alice can explain what she's been seeing."

"Okay," Alice began, "ever since our confrontation back in Forks, I've been watching the future of the Volturi and their guard, especially as it relates to all of us.  
>"At first, there was no real future, because the Volturi were so demoralized by the whole thing, they avoided thinking about it. The future I saw, based on their intentions, was that the Volturi would go on forever ignoring and avoiding us. We all knew that couldn't last forever, but they made no other decision at the time.<br>"A few months ago, I got the first faint glimmering of a different possibility. Someone, Aro I think, had started playing around with ideas. He was thinking about ways to deal with us. None of them were at all clear or permanent; he was probably just daydreaming to himself, thinking about ways of dealing with us. I let Carlisle know, and I think he told you."

"Yes," Tanya nodded.

"Aro's plans revolved around two things: getting gifted members of our families to join his Guard, and destroying what he saw as a threat to his power."

"I don't understand why you're considered a threat," Mila put in. "As far as I can tell, all you want to do is live peacefully, study, play music, and otherwise mind your own business. You're not even competing for prey. Why do the Volturi consider you a threat?"

Carlisle turned to her. "The conflict in Forks, although it never developed into an actual fight, marked the first time in centuries that the Volturi were bested by another coven. That makes us a threat by definition. Moreover, the way the event played out lessened the reputation of the Volturi in the eyes of everyone gathered there, and word was likely to spread, as witnesses came from several continents. The Volturi, especially Aro, would also feel we lessened their authority. Having members of our family join their Guard would enforce their importance in the eyes of their subjects, as well as eliminate the physical threat we represented."

Mila nodded. "Gotcha."

Alice collected her thoughts. "To the Volturi, the serious threat was Bella. She could block the effects of the Guard's most powerful weapons. The Volturi had depended on mental attacks from Jane and others for some time. Those were useless at Forks, because of Bella's shield.  
>"Once Aro began plotting again, his intentions involved using physical force instead. His plans, although they were still very unformed, took two directions: have a second showdown, this time bringing a guard fortified with strong physical fighters; or, as Edward once suggested, using the equivalent of snipers, to find individual members of the family when they were alone, and pick them off one by one.<br>"Bella was the main target, since it was her shield that limited the Volturi's power; but at the same time, Aro wanted to preserve Bella because he hoped to add her to his Guard."

"There's one other thing he wants," Jasper said quietly, "even more than Bella."

Alice looked at him. "Yes. He wants me in the Guard." She held his gaze a moment, then turned back to face us. "When I saw the future results of these plans, there were many possibilities. In a group battle, it was more or less equally likely that the Volturi would win, or that we would, depending on how many fighters the Volturi could gather, and how many allies we could find before they arrived. Even in the best case scenario, deaths were possible on both sides." She paused, looking dismal. Maybe it was Jasper she saw dying. "In the event the Volturi decided to take us out one at a time, the most likely outcome was that I'd see the decision being made and prevent each attack. But there's always the possibility of a mistake.  
>"In either case, the ultimate conclusion was: unlikely outcome, the Volturi win, take gifted individuals captive and kill the rest; or likely outcome, that we'd defeat them again and they'd go into an even longer period of withdrawal. Least likely: we not only win, but destroy them, Guard and all.<p>

"What's the likelihood that the Volturi reform and become friends and collaborators forever?" Garrett asked drily.

"Slim to none."

"Thought so," he muttered.

"So that's been your vision of the future - of possible futures - until now," William said. "What's suddenly different?"

"Well..._you_ are." She smiled at William. "It was when Carlisle became aware of the potential you represented, that the future shifted."

"What potential is this?"

"You have to see what your shield means if the Volturi attack again!" Emmett exclaimed. "Bella is absolute protection against any of their weapons that attack the mind, but only those. She'd be no help against a physical attack. But your shield, on the other hand..."

"When Carlisle heard that your shield is effective against fire, it put the idea in his mind," Alice explained. "That's how the Volturi execute people: quickly dismember them and burn them. They have this little device that produces high-temperature flames. It consumes the dismembered body very quickly."

"So we now have a perfect shield against mind attacks, _and_ an unbreakable shield against physical attacks as well," Emmett concluded. "As long as we stick together, the Volturi can't touch us."

We looked at each other. "But that's good news, right?" Kate asked. "I get a feeling there's more to this."

"Yes, there's more," Carlisle said. "Alice saw us standing against the Volturi successfully, whether they attack us individually or as a group. It is likely we would all survive, and remain outside the Guard. However, she also saw the aftermath."

"This goes many years into the future," Alice told us. "Probably many decades. The Volturi are not going to make a move any time soon. But when they do, as things stand now, we will certainly defeat them."

"So what's the down side?" Emmett asked impatiently.

Alice sighed. "The Volturi, remember, are responsible for keeping the vampire world safe, especially safe from exposure. They may be corrupt, but their work is valuable." She looked at Jasper once more. He knew better than any of us how important that work was. "If, years from now, the Volturi come for us, and we win, there are several possible outcomes, depending on the way many, many different details play out. What all of us decide will affect that outcome too, which is why this meeting is important. We have to choose our own strategy. "The possibilities, then, are:  
>"First: We defeat the Volturi but do not completely destroy them. Aro, at least, survives. I see Marcus being killed, but Caius probably survives. Aro and the remnants of his guard return to Italy and rule, but are permanently subdued and afraid to even encounter us again."<p>

"And we live in peace the rest of our days," Garrett concluded. "Sounds ideal."

"Second possibility." Alice went on. "We defeat the Volturi, leaving them vulnerable, and they are ousted by the Romanians. Stefan and Vladimir are far more lax about keeping our existence inconspicuous and monitoring outbreaks, and serious threats to all our kind result. Final outcome is unclear."

"Not quite so good," Emmett commented.

"If it results in our existence becoming known, it could be disastrous," Tanya said. "As Aro once pointed out, humans now have the potential to destroy us if they made a concerted effort. Keeping our existence secret is more essential than ever."

"Third possibility: We defeat the Volturi, with the help of many allies as before. Confidence in the Volturi is shattered, and a popular revolt takes place, declining into power struggles, resulting in anarchy throughout the vampire world. Again, final result still unknown."

"Who would've thought beating the Volturi could ever be a bad thing?" Emmett muttered.

"Fourth: We defeat the Volturi so thoroughly, they either cannot continue to form an effective force, or choose to disband completely. This leaves the vampire world without any kind of restraining body, and chaos develops."

We were now all looking very grim.

"Fifth: As in the previous outcome, we defeat the Volturi so thoroughly, they disband or come to an end. To prevent worldwide chaos, we are more or less forced to take their place and assume their duties."

This caused a shock. "_We_ would be the new Volturi?" Emmett asked incredulously.

"That's one of the possibilities," Alice told him.

"I don't think any of us wants that," Carlisle said. "Speaking for myself, I simply want a peaceful life with my family." We all murmured agreement. Taking on the work of the Volturi sounded like a very heavy burden. "Are there any other possible futures?" he asked Alice.

"Not at the moment."

"What about the possibility of preventing the Volturi from attacking in the first place?"

"I haven't seen that yet. One thing did come up, though, among my various...futures." She turned to Eleazar. "I saw you finding a way to let the Volturi know about William's shield."

William and Mila turned to him accusingly. "I was thinking about the action only," he said defensively. "I thought it might be a way to hold them off. If they knew there was no way their attack could be successful..."

"The thing is," Alice said, "I see bad things resulting from that choice. The Volturi decide to try other strategies, and several of us are killed before we ultimately defeat them. It seems like a good idea, but..."

"Consider it abandoned," Eleazar told us. He addressed William. "I'm sorry I ever thought of it. Obviously, I have no right to disclose that information without your permission. I will keep it a secret, I swear." The others appeared satisfied. "That being said, I can think of no other way to induce Aro to give up his plans. He is relentlessly ambitious."

"These can't be the only possibilities, though, can they?" I asked.

"No, not at all," Alice agreed. "Only the ones that come through based on what the key players are deciding right now. As new decisions are made, new futures will show themselves."

"One thing seems clear," said Jasper. "Just as our survival during the last confrontation depended largely on Bella's gift, our survival this time depends on hers and William's." We all turned to look at William. "If William chooses not to be involved, or even if he decides not to align himself with our families and return home, we would all perish." He spoke in a calm, matter of fact tone. "Or else, some would perish, while a select few would be saved and kept as part of the Guard."

Tanya looked at Alice. "Is that the outcome you see, should William and Mila leave us?"

Alice shook her head. "I can't see that." There was a quiver of surprise through the group. "I don't mean Jasper was wrong. We certainly need William's gift very badly. I just mean, I can't see that outcome, because he's never made the decision to leave us since I started seeing all this. Not even in passing."

"Nor will I," William said; then, looking at Mila, corrected, "Nor will _we_. You have treated us as friends, and more than that, as family, and we have accepted your friendship. We will not desert you should this difficulty arise. Few people loathe battle more than I do, but this is a battle I shall, at least, enter with no regret. If it cannot be avoided, we shall face it together." Mila looked from his face to scan ours, clearly seconding his statement.

It was not a stirring battlefield declaration; William spoke quietly and a little sadly. He truly did hate and fear the coming fight, but that made his intentions all the more admirable. We all murmured our thanks, and Emmett gave him a grateful slap between the shoulder blades, before we moved on.

"At the moment, the gift most valuable to us is Alice's," Carlisle said. "She is keeping watch on the Volturi's future, especially where it coincides with our own. Aro understands Alice's ability, and may try to find ways of circumventing it."

"Is that possible?" Tanya asked.

"It has been done once. You heard about the attempt on Bella's life, before she joined us." I remembered Victoria's devious method. It had worked, for a while. "They might avoid being seen by delegating attacks to people unknown to Alice."

"Delegating?" Garrett repeated. "So, they bring in new members of the Guard, and tell them, 'so-and-so is your target, get them and don't tell me how you plan to go about it' - is that the idea?"

"Exactly. Of course, it will only work for so long. Eventually, the new party makes decisions which affect us, and Alice sees it. At best, it can keep us from knowing their plans far in advance."

"Also," Alice added, "it's very hard for the Volturi to keep from thinking about what their henchmen are doing, and making plans based on that. They can try to keep their decisions from becoming conscious and deliberate, but they'll probably slip up enough for me to catch it."

"So we'll have at least some advance notice," Jasper concluded. "Enough to know when we need to stay in close proximity to each other.

Tanya seemed to be mulling this over. She faced Carlisle, one family's leader to another. "From now on, we need to remain accessible to each other. I don't want to suggest we have to hover, avoid travelling, and so forth. However, it should be possible to reach any one of us at any time."

"Cell phones, fortunately, make that possible," Carlisle agreed.

Garrett sighed audibly, and Kate laughed. "He hates cell phones," she said. "You'll get used to them," she told Garrett.

"Bear in mind that the Volturi are making no plans at this time," Jasper reminded us.

"No," Alice agreed, "it will be years before they start plotting seriously. Right now they're still recovering from our last encounter, and starting to mull over future possibilities in a vague way. I'll let everyone know when it gets more concrete."

"It's to our advantage that they are unaware of William and Mila's presence here. Even if they do become aware, there is no reason they should discover William's gift in advance." Jasper looked at Carlisle. "We seem to be in a position of strength, at least for now."

"One other matter, if I may," Eleazar said. "Do we know for certain that William's gift and Bella's are, so to speak, compatible?"

Carlisle frowned. "How do you mean?"

"We are assuming Bella can provide us with the same protection as previously, while William simultaneously shields us from physical attack."

"Ah!" Carlisle nodded. "But can they do these things at the same time?"

"We should test it." Eleazar looked eagerly from me to William.

Carlisle looked at us questioningly. "If you are both willing, it would be useful information."

"Of course." William smiled over at me. "Shall we combine forces?" I nodded.

"Shields up," Mila whispered to me in a perfect Captain Picard accent, and I stifled a laugh. William and I moved a short distance from the others, and a few yards apart.

"How should we do this?" Tanya asked. "Edward, you'd be helpful here."

"Yes, I see," he said. "William, can you shield yourself, and Bella, please prepare to shield William." I let my shield expand, move outward, holding it just short of where William stood. "William, can you please start to think continuously of something recognizable. Count by fives, or something like that." He nodded, taking in William's thoughts. "Bella?"

I moved my shield until it covered William. Edward's eyebrows moved up a moment. "William's thoughts were cut off at that moment," he reported.

"Can you try the same with a third party?" Jasper asked. "Garrett, would you mind?"

"Ready," Garrett replied.

"Do you need him to move away from the others?"

"Not at all," William said, and I shook my head. I covered Garrett with a tight-fitting shield, and Edward nodded that Garrett's thoughts had been blocked.

They tried attacking Garrett, one by one, then in groups of two or three. His shield remained impenetrable, as before. We experimented with shielding more than one person at a time, then groups of up to ten. There seemed to be no limits to our combined ability.

"There seems to be no way the Volturi, or anyone else for that matter, can harm us," Tanya observed with satisfaction.

"Or rather," Jasper said, "the only way we could be harmed is if we separate from each other."

Garrett smirked. " 'United We Stand, Divided We Fall' has never been so literally true."

"Our meeting Mila and William at this time seems almost providential," Carlisle mused. "We would eventually find ourselves in great distress without them."

"Providential hardly describes it. They are a godsend." Tanya turned to William. "You indicated you plan to stay on. Have you chosen a location?" I assumed she was wondering which family he and Mila would remain with.

"We prefer to remain a third family for the time being," William replied. "Esme has been assisting us in finding a permanent residence. I hope for something equidistant from your dwelling and Carlisle's, so that we may visit both regularly."

"Excellent."

There seemed nothing more to discuss. We said our goodbyes, everyone embracing and thanking William and Mila for agreeing to stay with us and thereby allowing us as much security as we could have hoped for. We ran back home filled with happiness and optimism, racing each other and leaping over obstacles just for fun. For the first time since Nessie was an infant, we felt the distant threat of the Volturi recede. We were almost certainly safe; and although some possible futures were less positive than others, we might still find a way to direct the outcome and avoid disaster.


	16. Journeys End

We arrived back at the house in the morning. Nessie was already at school, and Jacob was sitting cross-legged on the living room floor, reading. He looked around in surprise at our cheerful expressions. "Good meeting?" he guessed. We settled down to fill him in.

Jacob took in the information about Alice's visions. "No matter what happens, the wolves are going to stand with the Cullens and their allies," he declared. "I'll see to that. If they're not needed, fine, but it can't hurt to have extra backup."

"No, indeed. Your help would be most welcome, if it comes to a confrontation," Carlisle told him.

Alice zoned out at that point for over two minutes. "Interesting," she said at last. "The wolves' involvement changes things slightly."

"For the better," Edward said, seeing what she was seeing. "The chance of holding the Volturi at bay permanently increases, for one thing."

"Yes," Alice agreed. "It's still not_ extremely_ likely, but possible. We'd have a permanent stalemate."

"Always having to remain on guard, but never actually facing an attack."

"The future with a weakened Volturi, still functional but no longer a threat to us, also becomes more likely," Alice observed.

"Only Aro surviving, in that case," Edward said, frowning. "Caius and Marcus both killed, half the Guard surviving. Why would the wolves' involvement have that result?"

"You know I don't see any _whys_," Alice chided him.

"Takeover by the Romanians remain a possibility, I see. But they're answerable to _us_ in some way."

"That's a weird one," Alice agreed. "But less dangerous than the original future with the Romanians in charge. All in all, having the pack with us turns out much prettier futures than fighting with the two families - excuse me, the _three_ families - and their allies, alone."

"Good to know," Jacob said.

"Best of all," Edward smiled, "it vastly increases our chances of continuing to live as we have been. No taking on the duties of the Volturi; no ongoing battles; just good things. School, music..."

"A peaceful life," Jasper said.

"Reading and learning," Carlisle added, "and work."

"_Private_ activities," Emmett said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. I silently seconded that.

"Family time," Esme put in, "and just enjoying each other's company."

"And baseball," Alice said, grinning. "Speaking of which, thunderstorm nine days from now."

The looming threat of the Volturi didn't so much disappear, as it was transformed into a continual background of caution and awareness. We knew we had to be careful of separations from one another, and take care, as Carlisle had suggested, that we were always accessible by phone, and could be brought back home on fairly short notice. It was not an obtrusive kind of caution, and the sense of mutual dependence did bring our families closer. Any aggression from the Volturi was still many years off, but whenever it came, we were ready for it. The one dark cloud over our happy existence had not disappeared, but it had lightened.

For now, most of our attention went to more important things.

Near the end of the school year, Nessie unexpectedly asked to redecorate her room. It was the first time she'd requested anything that required significant amounts of shopping and decor planning, and she had a team of experts instantly at hand and eager to help. She chose to eliminate the green and yellow, hobbit house-like interior for a more sophisticated one of pale blue and chocolate brown. Alice and Rosalie took her shopping, seven trips in all, for the necessary items, and Esme worked with her on the design. The end result was lovely, but less youthful than her previous room, which of course led to slightly ambivalent feelings on my part.

The location we'd selected for our next move was chosen partly because of an excellent university in the immediate area. The rest of us could always make do with a substandard institution for one move, but this would be Nessie's first time at college, and we wanted to make it a good experience.

It would be Jacob's first college experience too, of course. Jacob had begun to devote more time to his online courses, recognizing the need to keep up with Nessie. I asked him one afternoon what he was planning to study, when he and Nessie started attending college together in a few years.

He looked, to my surprise, embarrassed at the question. "You'll probably think this is stupid," he said, seeming to address all of us.

"No, I won't!" He grimaced. "Why would I? What are you majoring in, Home Ec?"

"Well, the university we're going to has a really good Aboriginal Studies department."

I shook my head. "What's funny about that?"

"I don't know. I haven't been that interested in the past; I thought it would seem inconsistent. I just...I used to think most Quileute culture was kind of stupid, or only a remnant not worth protecting. Being away from the Rez for so long, I guess it's made me rethink things. I thought it might be good to get better informed. I don't know, maybe I can do some good with the information, along with all the money that's going to be rolling in shortly."

Alice laughed. "You'll be a rich man within the year, if you keep following my advice," she confirmed.

"Anyway, I'll have time to go on and study other things, in other locations; but this seemed like a good place to start."

"Highly appropriate, I would say," Carlisle put in. "Being familiar with one's own roots is a good foundation for all other learning."

That gave me the courage to reveal my own secret ambition: to become sufficiently well versed in the relevant sciences to one day study and analyze vampire nature, especially aspects of it which were not clearly understood, even by vampires themselves. Nobody thought my aspirations were silly; in fact, Carlisle found the idea very intriguing. We talked about the possibilities until it was time to pick Nessie up at school. As Edward was in the middle of a chess game with Jasper, I said I'd go get her by myself.

"Mind if I come along?" Jacob asked. I waved him forward, and he followed me and hopped into the front seat of my Cygnet, his head brushing the car's ceiling.

"You need a much bigger vehicle," I told him, pulling down the driveway. "That Honda of yours is too small for you, actually."

"I'm thinking of getting a new one," he said. "Once Alice's investments start to really pay off, I'll ask Edward to help me pick out something hot."

"He'd enjoy that," I grinned.

"I'll have to make sure Nessie likes it, too, of course," he added. "She'll be riding in it a lot."

"So I assume." I looked over at him as I drove. "I have to say, I admire the way you took our little talk to heart."

"The sexual predator in denial talk?"

"Yeah, that one. Although _predator_ might be overstating things."

"I'm glad you told me that stuff. I wish you had earlier."

"There wasn't any need, earlier." He shook his head at me. "It would only have made you upset, and it was all in the past, anyway. But when it related to Nessie, I _had_ to bring it up."

"I get it."

"But you've changed your whole approach to Nessie, from what I can see."

"You had a point. It would be wrong to try and influence her decision too much. There's no guarantee we'll end up together. Well, we'll always be together in some way, but it could be only as friends."

"You're okay with that?"

"Yeah, of course. It's not my first choice, but...Edward gets this better than you do, to tell the truth. Maybe because he can see how I think of it, or maybe because he's been through almost the same thing himself."

"He has?"

"Sort of. If you'd picked...somebody else, instead of Edward, he'd have accepted that, and been happy as long as _you_ were happy. He loves you that much. If what Nessie needs from me is a pal, that's what I'll be for her. If what she wants is me as a boyfriend, a husband, that's what I'll be. I'd be much happier if she wants me _that_ way, of course, but as long as I can be something to her, I'll be okay."

I was honestly rooting for him at this point; it was hard to imagine a better, more devoted husband for my girl than Jacob. "She's lucky to have you."

He grinned his big, happy grin. "I'm the lucky one."

I took my usual spot in the school's visitor parking lot. "We're a little early."

"Can we go in?"

"I usually just wait in the car."

"Yeah, but this is my old alma mater. I should drop by. Say hi to some of the educators who helped mould me and turn me from the downward path."

I laughed. "If you want to." I got out and followed him to the main building. "Do you think they'll remember you?"

"Are you kidding? I'm one of their troubled youth success stories, remember? They love their disadvantaged minority students here. Especially if there aren't too many of 'em."

"For your information, this school is very…"

"…very open to students of all races, creeds, and sub-species. I know, I know." He grinned at me. "I'm kidding. It's a good school. I'm glad you picked this place for Nessie."

A stocky, middle-aged man I recognized as Nessie's English Literature teacher stopped on his way down the corridor. "Jason?" He was looking at Jake. "Jason Williams?"

"Hi, Mr. Dalton."

"It's so good to see you again! What brings you back here? Once you've graduated, you never have to set foot in the place again, you know!" He chuckled.

Jake gave him a friendly smile. "I was visiting…Angie's family - they're old friends of mine. She had to pick up her niece, so I decided to tag along, see the old place."

"I'm glad you did. I always thought you'd do well. He was a very promising student," Mr. Dalton confided to me. "He gave me a little trouble, but I could see there was more to him than just the attitude. I knew he'd be one of our success stories."

Jacob gave me a quick look. "I don't know about that. Right now I'm working as a mechanic, just until I save up enough for college."

"So you're still planning to go to college?"

"I've already saved half of what I need. I'll get there, no question."

"That's fantastic! I'm so happy to hear it." He clasped Jake' hand warmly, admonished him to stay in touch, and continued down the corridor, smiling.

"You didn't tell him you'd have enough saved for college in the next six weeks," I pointed out.

"Details." A series of musical chimes sounded through the building, and students began emerging from classrooms and pouring out into the main lobby and through the front doors. "Where's Nessie right now?"

I pointed to a doorway at the far end of a corridor. "That's her last class for the day."

We moved closer to the wall to keep from impeding the flow of students heading for the exit. Jacob smiled as Nessie finally emerged from the classroom, walking slowly and talking with a short blonde girl and the ever-present Meghan. Nessie smiled and waved as she saw us. The blonde almost stopped short as she sighted Jacob. "Who's _that_?" she whispered to Nessie, unaware that I, at least, could hear her clearly.

"That's my aunt, and a family friend." She never forgot the cover story.

The girl clearly wasn't interested in the aunt part. "Wow! He's gorgeous!"

"No kidding!" Meghan chimed in.

Nessie looked quizzically from Jacob to the two girls, who were trying, and failing, to act nonchalant as they proceeded down the corridor in our direction. Other girls, and one or two female teachers, were giving Jacob a good look as they passed by. I could see Nessie taking this in, noticing the striking difference between Jacob and the boys walking past him on their way to the exit.

It had been a long time - long in actual years, and very, _very_ long in terms of life experience - since I'd seen Jacob as anything but a friend and brother, but I could still recognize, objectively, that he was a good looking guy. Even during those terrible days when my heart had been missing, and I'd clung to Jacob like a life raft, I'd been able to see that he was beautiful. Seeing other girls look at Jacob, comparing him to people she saw every day, Nessie seemed to become aware of this fact for the first time. She watched Jacob with a look, almost, of surprise.

"He's a good friend of _yours_, apparently," the blonde girl said insinuatingly. She'd noticed the devotion on Jacob's face, the same look he'd worn every time he looked at Nessie, from the day she was born. It was something Nessie had seemed to take for granted. She looked more carefully at Jacob, frowning. She seemed to be troubled by some thought, something new and confusing, something that puzzled her, that she couldn't quite figure out.

I was fairly sure she'd figure it out before long.

It seemed like a long, long walk down the corridor before Nessie and her friends reached us. She looked up at Jacob, and he smiled and took her hand, exactly as he had a thousand times before. She smiled back at him, but the puzzled look was still there.

A moment later, it was gone, as she introduced Jacob to her friends, told them goodbye, and walked with us out the door to the waiting car. "How was today?" I asked.

"Pretty good," she reported, still holding Jacob's hand as we walked toward the parking lot. "Denise got into an argument with the biology teacher over dissecting animal specimens. She's a vegan. He told her he admired the strength of her principles, but it didn't justify name calling."

"What did she call him?" Jacob asked.

"A barbarian." He chuckled, but I maintained my parental austerity. I wasn't supposed to approve of teachers being called barbarians, in theory.

"And we had another dress code infraction," she went on. "A boy this time. He was called into the principal's office for wearing a bowling shirt to school. The kind with pictures of bowling pins all over it."

"Alice wouldn't approve," I remarked.

She continued filling us in on her day while driving home. I debated telling Edward about Nessie's minor revelation, and decided he could be trusted as much as I could, to let her work it out in her own good time. We'd be prepared - Edward and I, and Jacob, and for that matter the rest of her family - to help her through whatever was coming.

I pressed my foot down on the accelerator, indulging in a little speed for once. I was eager to be home.


End file.
